I seem to be adjusting to sleeping rough, as I seem to sleep better each night. Or at least, I’ve learned to put on enough clothing to stay warm through the night. Since I needed to charge my phone, which was under 30% at this point, I decided to take a minor detour to swing by a different Family Mart in the morning. Still no tables. I was standing in the doorway drinking my coffee and got kicked out because if there are not seats you are forbidden to consume products on the site. The attendant told me to use a bench outside, which was wet from the rain.
The next temple was still some distance away and at an elevation of 400 meters. The one after it was the highest in the circuit at an elevation of over 900 meters. I knew there was no way I could make it 19 km and scale a cliff with my karma weighing me down, so my only hope was to hitch a ride from the parking lot of temple 65.
The forecast said there should be a window of rain between 9 and 10, but by 7am it was alternating between a drizzle and a light rain. My Google Maps was acting up again (sometimes it stops accessing the Google servers on the data connection), and I ducked under a highway overpass to wait out the rain for a bit. I laid down my plastic picnic blankets, sat down and plugged my phone into my computer to try to get it from 18% to something sustainable for the day. When my phone passed 50%, I ventured back out into the wet and trudged uphill past cemeteries and farm houses.
I seemed to have a bit of luck as I was gaining plenty of elevation on decently paved roads suitable for dragging along the rolling suitcase. Even when the path for walkers and drivers diverged it was still mostly paved. As I followed a path along the inside of a jungle ravine and reached a bend where I’d have to clamber up some number of steps, a van came barreling up the footpath. It failed to make the turn due to a combination of mud patches and a little ditch across the road for some piping. After several attempts, the driver decided to back up into the cliff wall where his right tires got stuck in the gutter. I watched him push against the wall with his arm as he tried forward and reverse in an attempt to free himself. He climbed across the van, out the passenger side, and pulled a large metal pipe from the back in an attempt to lever the van back onto the road. For the record, I was making efforts to help during this entire ordeal, but at this point, I grabbed the pipe, put my back against van and pushed in two directions with enough force to let the tire catch the road and propel the van forward. Unlike in the sitcoms, I did not land in a puddle of mud or get a mud shower as the van peeled out. I did notice that I was in a swam of mosquitoes for the entire show.
Van free, the driver decided to carry on to the temple on foot with me hobbling behind at some distance. The signage on the path pointed one way, but my map indicated another direction. As one direction was a narrow dirt footpath and the other partially paved, I trusted the map. It became increasingly less paved, and entered the forest where the trail gradually became overgrown and full of wicked spirits. I persisted nevertheless. As I started hauling myself and my luggage over tree roots and through bushes full of spiders and centipedes, I gave up all hope of staying remotely dry or clean. The rain had subsided, but water was on every leaf waiting to smear me. The last 50 meters were a veritable nightmare, a scene from a war movie where the soldiers attempted to make it up a steep muddy hill. I emerged from the last scramble on the road, some 500 meters left to the temple. I proceeded to drag my suitcase along and as I pulled in the parking lot I noticed that the two main wheels had finally bitten the dust. Well, this is going to be a problem, I thought to myself.
I went straight to the bathroom, took off my white ceremonial robe and gave it a quick wash in the sink which had an automatic faucet and no plug. I wrung it out and put it back on. It didn’t matter that it was wet. I was already wet and the rain had started up again. After performing my rituals, I climbed down the stairs to the parking lot, which had at least 5 or 6 cars. I let a couple of people get into their cars and drive off as a I screwed up the courage to pounce. I approached an elderly couple in full henro gear and asked for a lift. They welcomed me, and I laid my tarps across the backseat of their Prius to minimize the amount of dirtying it.
The ride to the next temple, or I should say the cable car to the next temple, went quickly. It was a steep price for the cable car, but there was a significant discount for foreigners. What a pleasant surprise. Temple 66 (Unpen-ji) was pretty amazing and completely engulfed in clouds giving it an otherworldly look.
I got a ride from the same couple back down the mountain to the next temple, where I insisted on parting ways and let them speed their way through the next couple of temples while I continued on foot. Having to deal with my suitcase again and being about 5 km from a possible henro hut was not a great situation. After a couple of iterations, I found out I could drag the suitcase backwards on its still functional two front wheels. It’s a bit more awkward, but otherwise workable solution, though I do not know how long it will last.
Getting into town and nearing where I thought the hut would be, I popped into a supermarket for some water. I noticed that the supermarket had a bench with a large sign in English (only) saying “No Eating”. What the hell is wrong with this part of Shikoku? Is there some anti-pilgrim agenda making it impossible to eat anywhere? I couldn’t find the hut, and eventually went to Lawson’s (with no seats) to log into the Wi-Fi to find it on the map. I must have walked an extra 3km looking for that thing. The hut was circular shaped, making it less than ideal for sleep, but I had little choice.
I dropped my stuff and hobbled back to the supermarket to get some food. If I have to eat outside, I might as well not pay convenience store prices. On the way, I bumped into a German guy I had briefly encountered on top of the mountain. (He really moved fast). I asked him where he was going (the same hut), and suggested he grab food from the supermarket first. I bought a lot of food, enough for dinner and breakfast.
I took a bench and he blew up an air mattress and laid his sleeping bag out on the floor. Apparently, this was the roughest hut he had stayed in during his month-long trek so far. According to him, lots of places have showers and stoves and hot water. I was fairly incredulous.
It was nice to have a bit of company, and I was out not long after dark.
33728 steps for the day.
| Family mart breakfast | 265 |
| Vending Machine energy drink | 100 |
| Ropeway | 1000 |
| Candle | 100 |
| Temples x 3 | 900 |
| Water | 95 |
| Dinner | 1207 |
| Total: | 3667 JPY (234.7 RMB) (USD 34.85) |
Running Total: 28066 RMB (USD 4167.43)
Daily Average: 298.6 RMB (USD 44.33)