Despite sleeping comfortably in a windowless room, I did not sleep in. I was fully awake by 5 am, and not wanting to linger in a room, which must have 70 or 80 people snoozing away, I headed out to the lobby area. People were camped out sleeping in every corner, but a few souls were roaming about like zombies. The restaurant service wouldn’t kick in until 7am and I didn’t want to wait around that long for a cup of coffee so I headed into the men’s locker room to change. The baths themselves were closed for the night, so I didn’t even have the option of a quick soak before hitting the road…not that I would really want to.
I had briefly contemplated doing a bit of laundry in the sink and making use of the little machine that just runs a spin cycle, but it didn’t really seem worth the effort. I headed to the front desk dreading a huge bill, but it turned out to be exactly what I had been quoted at the Muragame tourist information desk. I happily paid, collected my luggage, and headed out into the refreshing pre-dawn glow. I needed some breakfast and internet time (having opted not to hang around the onsen using their free Wi-Fi), so I wandered over to a Lawson’s only to find they had no tables. I rounded the corner to a McDonald’s surprised to find it didn’t open until 8am. I haven’t had any Western fast food yet in Japan. Sure, I’ve eaten tons of donuts and breads and various pastries, but no McDonald’s, KFC, or even a Starbucks yet.
The third time was the charm and the 7-Eleven had a seat where I could get a bit of work done as I fueled up the metaphorical tank. Planning out the route for the day, I had one temple in this town, two more along the main trunk line, then two up in the mountains. I would have to exercise some creativity in arranging the schedule so that I could end up in Takamatsu (my ultimate destination) at the end.
Thought the Lonely Planet recommended this town (Utaze) as an off the beaten track destination, I didn’t see anything special in the buildings around the temple. I followed the path along in the bring morning sunshine, passing plenty of shopfronts that advertised free services for henro (though all we shut — either due to the holiday or the early hours). I came across another Henro hut that was little more than a bus stop on the side of the road and sat down for a minute. As it was 9am and the drug store was just opening, I decided to pop in for a little snack. Drug stores in Japan tend to be rather comprehensive in their offerings. The chains you find in the shopping arcades have really good prices on the selection of snacks, and this one–a big box retailer–was more like a Walmart in terms of having a bit of everything, including fresh produce, home appliances, sports equipment, etc. I commented to myself that it would have been a good place to start when preparing for this trip and I resisted the urge to see what they had in terms of camping gear.
I carried on to the next temple, which happened to have a train station near by. I had pretty good timing when I was done to hop on a train and save me 6 km en route to the next temple, which was also really close to a train station. On the train, I booked accommodation for the end of the pilgrimage and found a free Henro House (they typically charge guesthouse prices) in Takamatsu. I registered an account and made a reservation to stay there that night. I had about 8 or 9 temples left, the end of the Golden Week was around the corner, accommodation could be booked again (!), so it seemed like I was pulling into the final stretch of the pilgrimage.
Kokubu-ji (the second temple of that name) sat on a fairly large ground. Above it in the hills (or technically a plateau) were the next two temples. Seeing them in person, the mountain didn’t seem so high, and it was a mere 7km distance to either one. Compared to the distance and height of the trek up to Temple 60, I reckoned I could get up and back in about 5 hours. It was only 11am, so I could ideally be on the train into Takamatsu around 4pm, where I was expecting to check-in to a free sleeping place between 4 and 6.
I left my suitcase out of sight, just behind the main gate of the temple, and also took as much dead weight out of my backpack as I dared. I filled up my thermos from the bathroom sink (gross), and set off. The initial stretch headed upwards through the farmland and snaked around some reserviors. Eventually the foothill turned into the waist of the mountain and the trail got steep, real steep. After fully drenching my clothes in sweat, I paused to strip down to my undershirt. Eventually the trail flattened out after a climb of about 400 meters. There was a fork in the road, left for one temple, right for the other. I took them in order. Each temple was about 2.5 km from the central spot, so I figured it should be pretty quick. It wasn’t. There was still quite a bit of up and down and I was tired from both the day and the accumulated exertion of a week of walking. The temples were nice, but I was on the clock and hurried along at every opportunity. I bumped into the German guy again on my way to the first temple. I didn’t even ask where he found to sleep the previous night.
Just before the second of the two mountain top temples (Negoro-ji), I saw the fanciest Henro hut yet. It had a screen door and a loft! That would have been really nice to stay in, other than the necessity of preparing food and water. On the way back, I Japanese man eating an ice cream in a shop (okay, so I guess one could buy some supplies up on the plateau) waved me over, whipped out his phone, and spent 5 minutes trying to get his Google translate app to work. I was pretty sure he was asking “Where are you from” as he repeated himself over and over. It was rather amusing, and I patiently waited because I think he wanted an excuse to work the technology. Eventually, he just started guessing country names, and the last bit of doubt about his intention was removed. The problem with being American in Japan is that “America” is just “America.” It requires no nuance of Japanese knowledge to say.
My feet really hurt on the way down, but I couldn’t let up. It was already well past 4pm, and my new timeline was to get back to the temple and get my stuff before 5 pm–the closing hour. As I pulled up to the temple, I found that the gates were shut. I wasn’t imagining that they would lock up. There was a groundskeeper guarding the gate, allowing the worshipers still inside to filter out. He tried to wave me away, but I kept trying to explain in broken Japanese that my bags were inside. He relented and I quickly grabbed them and headed right back outside. Checking my watch, it was only 4:55.
I caught a train into Takamatsu right away, and it was only a 15 minute ride. However, my new problem was that I had specified a 4-6 pm estimated arrival window. Once I found a 7-Eleven to buy water (I was sooo thirsty) and get some internet (because my cellular data had been acting funky), I realized it would take me an hour to reach the Henro House. I needed to call them to let them know I would be late, but (a) I only have data, no calling and (b) the listing explicitly said they don’t speak English. I went over to the tourist information desk to ask for help. A couple of ladies were in the midst of a long conversation at the English language desk, but there was a free agent at the Chinese language desk.
I calmly explained the situation and asked if he could call the number indicated in the confirmation email. He decided to read the email, tell me he had never heard of the “hotel,” attempt to search for it on Google Maps, then tell me I should take the city tramway there. I had already figured out that I could take a bus which would drop me off very close. He pulled out a tram schedule and showed me there was one leaving in 5 minutes, so I rushed off to the tram station without him ever calling ahead. At the tram station, I bought a ticket and realized that (a) that the tram would leave at the same time as the bus (also twice hourly) and (b) that it would be a 3 kilometer walk from the closest tram station. I was furious at the utterly unhelpful Chinese guy working the information desk. (I could tell from his accent that he was actually Chinese.)
I gave up on the tram and decided to take the bus, even if it meant eating the tram ticket cost. To my surprise (and the ticket checkers when I attempted to leave), they refunded my money. The bus stop was right there and the bus came along in a couple of minutes. I was back out in the countryside in thirty minutes. I hopped off the bus and dragged myself along the road in the sunset looking for the henro house. None of the buildings had street addresses posted, and I passed right by it expecting it to have some kind of henro marking on it. I only found it by the location in Google Maps and confirmed by the photos on the website.
No one was home. Was it because I was 40 minutes after my arrival window or some other reason? My phone was down to 15% and though I had a phone number to call, I had no way to do so. After standing on the street some number of minutes, hoping someone would come along and rescue me. I dropped my stuff on the back porch, and hobbled over to the nearest convenience store to scrounge up some food and think. (I hadn’t eaten since 9am). The convenience store (a Daily Yamazaki) didn’t have wifi or a public payphone that I could see. My final plan, which seems to be typical for me, was to just suffer it out. I took out my contact lenses, brushed my teeth, and went back to the house.
I suppose there was an outside chance that someone would be there at this point. If not, then there would be no harm in sleeping in the backyard. Concrete is a lot harder than a wooden bench, but I’ve been getting used to the misery.
51757 total steps for the day.
| Shikoku Health Village | 2904 |
| 7-Eleven donuts and coffee | 360 |
| Snack & drink | 148 |
| Train ticket | 220 |
| Vending machine drink | 140 |
| Temples * 5 | 1500 |
| Train | 260 |
| Water (2L) | 100 |
| Bus | 480 |
| Daily Yamazaki (mac & cheese, bread, chocolate, drink) | 817 |
| Total: | 6929 JPY (443.45 RMB) (USD 65.6) |
Running Total: 28966.2 RMB (USD 4284.6)
Daily Average: 298.6 RMB (USD 44.17)