While it was nice to get on the road again, we will really miss our new friends at Tokumasu. The whole family was so nice to us and our connection with Chi and her husband was wonderful. We were really sad to leave.
I'd have worked there just for the amazing meals that were lovingly put together each day. Here is last nights dinner...eat your hearts out:) the uncooked squid was amazing!
As we set off each time we looked back our pals were there waving. They certainly made us feel special. An offer has been made to reconnect in Canada, and we hope that one day this may come to pass as it would be nice to return some of the hospitality we were shown. It went far beyond simply being a guest in their minshuku. Chi slipped her email address and phone number to us as we were leaving with instructions to call if I have any problems on the long road ahead. It's hard to explain what that guesture means as I'll soon be on my own.
Annemarie just returned to our temple room...beers are free here!! I hauled one all the way up the last climb of the day to share with Annemarie. Who knew? A sign saying "free beer up top" posted at the bottom of the climb would have been appreciated! Better still, I think it should be included in the next edition of the map book:) Nice...no, great osettai!!
The walk along the coast today was very nice with rollers coming in off the Pacific. What a change from the last two days. Here are a few photos from our start to Cape Mikuradō.
Cave where KD spent time meditating for a long period of time. Closed due to rock falls.
We climbed up to T24, a steep climb. What else is new. A young priest in front of me.
We found ourselves in the clouds at the top, but it made our experience all the better. Hey, and no tour buses at any of the temples. We are a bit more remote here and last Sunday was just a zoo at each temple. In the past, move on.
The back side of the Cape was a surprise. Clear with an amazing view.
We have been very surprised by the amount of concrete barriers along the coast to break the storm and typhoon storm surges. It's almost as if the the whole coastline is sheathed in concrete.
Of course there is some amazing disaster mitigation here, specific to earthquakes and tsunamis. This is a tsunami refuge along the coast. Looks new and we saw a couple of these today. Infinite signs showing elevation above sea level and directions to evacuation sites. No messing around here. Well done!
Annemarie saw this sign and took off!
Temple 25 was interesting with the bell housed in the gate at the top of these steep stairs. Very different.
Then a last climb as mentioned to T26.
We saw very few Henro today and think that the monsoons drove many to bus to Cape Mikuradō leaving us in a bit of a bubble. A nice place to be. There are 10 other Henro here at the temple tonight, four of whom we spent last evening with. All Japanese. A very little English spoken. Enough to kid around a bit. Very pleasant at the end of a long day. I'm hoping that when Annemarie returns home in about a week that I'll maintain some of these connections. Everyone is walking the 88. An older fellow, 78, and I connected a big today. He has a beard like mine, but not as long...nice beard was his comment. Mine gets trimmed when I arrive home...not until then!
At the end of the stage the usual process began. Check in, figure out where our room is, find the washing machines and then, finally, happily find the bath. The bath today was a bit different with all the Japanese guys in there and me, the lonesome foreigner. No photos for this part...probably a good thing! We all squat on our plastic stools and begin by filling our plastic basins. In front of us is a tap with a connection to a very low shower head, a mirror and big bottles of shampoo and soap. My tap doesn't work, but no worries, all the guys come over to help me sort this out. Not a chance they can get it working so they move me to a new tap. Finally success! Everyone starts to soap up...I'm a keen observer as I want to get this right. Soap everywhere. Never seen anything like it. It's great! I finish as the guy beside me appears to finish and I'm thinking that it's time to rinse, so I do. But hold on....he's doing his feet again?! Ok, lather up my feet, again. No way I'm going to be the first into the hot, hot tub of water! Everyone is still soaping. At home I'd be done and dusted...dressed for the day. Here, not a chance. So I lather it up all over again. We must be finished now I'm thinking. Nope, now we are all shaving! But I don't have my razor with me!! Momentary panick. So what do I do? Of course, lather up again! One fellow moves to the tub, so there's my chance. Rinse and move quickly with my small face towel to the hot tub. Ease in, don't rush it. It's scalding hot. Foreigners we've met have burned themselves. All in...relax, smile at your neighbour and make happy sounds. Then wait and climb out after the first guy in has climbed out and follow his example about where and how to towel off. Pull on my kimono thing and flee to our room! I'm learning so much. I'm so clean:)
Here is our room tonight. Chi arranged it for us. Nice. Two chairs and a small table where I sit writing this. Windows open, cool air coming in. It's an amazing world and we are loving our experiences in Japan. Wonder what's for dinner?
Our view.
All set for tomorrow. A solid climb at the end of the day to T26, but we will first drop our gear at our minshuku in the village and then make the climb. 3.2 kms up, 3.2 down, then a hot bath (after a lot of soap), a cold beer and dinner. Not a bad way to live for a while! Early to bed as we are up for a 6 am service at the temple, then breakfast.
Maybe you needed all that soap!
ReplyDeleteFree beer--what a country!
Ken