day 3, 7:50am, big hills

it was a terribly stormy night, but i was safe in my strawberry tent. i took shelter there yesterday evening and decided to sleep there when it started to get dark.

it was dirty and full of ants, but it was dry. it was also sandwiched between a freeway and a secondary highway, so it was a bit noisy. however, on some good advice, i brought some ear plugs. they worked perfectly. :)

today i head out to temples 9, 10, and 11. i don't know if i can make 12. i guess we'll find out.

later,

day 2, 8:10pm, one down and 39 more to go

it rained. on and off, drizzle and downpours, it was very much rainy season rain.

i now know that my poncho works. i also know what i would change if i made another poncho. my day of poncho field testing was very educational. it's a little late for field testing now, but the next trip... you'd better watch out rain because my poncho is going to be awesome!

the rained slowed things down a little today. there was a lot of taking off and putting on of an imperfect poncho.
i made it to temple 7 and found a dry place for the night on the way to temple 8. there is an onsen on the way so i might try to get a bath tomorrow morning if it's possible.

no major pains yet, maybe i'll get some tomorrow. today was only 19km of walking.

oh for the record, before i started i was 113kg. the monk doing stamps at temple 1 promised me that i would be a stick man by the time i was finished. we'll see. :)

good night

day 2, 4:05pm, pic of the day

i found it and it's closed

day 2, 6:30am, the last train

it's another early morning.
i spent the night in tokushima, the birthplace of geos (the english school i was teaching for). i thought about visiting school no.1, but decided against it. six years is enough geos for me! (of course i could always enjoy more time at mishima and shizuoka schools)

today is my last train trip until i head back home. this also maybe my last upbeat e-mail for a while. no doubt i'll be complaining about the heat, blisters, and the big hills.
the hills are big! when i awoke this morning i saw for the first time the large silouettes of mountains surrounding the city. it was definately an "oh, fudge" moment.

well, i'm off. for those of you following on the map, i've just arrived near temple 1. i should be around no.6,7, or 8 by the end of today.
you-sho!

day 1, 3:10pm, the cedars of koya-san

the cedars of koya-san, among the the tomes of the most devout (or the wealthy and powerful... yeay! oda nobunaga)

day 1, 3:10pm, it's the real deal

up until today the whole trip had only been google maps, train time tables and digital photos.

reality is so much more. that seems likes it'd be obvious, but it's easy to forget in a lifestyle of routine where all your information is consumed at home. i forgot.

i guess i'm ready now.

koya-san was beautiful. i got some interesting pictures. ex.a gravestone shaped like a nasa saturn rocket. mostly it was the trees that amazed me. monestaries and old temples are everywhere in japan but it's hard to find gorgeous cedar trees like koya-san's anywhere.

lastly, i met my very first ohenro friend. her name is midori matsukawa and she was just finishing up her second pilgrimage. she helped me get through my first day as an ohenro. she had taken a tent on her trip and camped out. she had lots of tips and advice for me. i won't even tell you what she said about the snakes. yikes!

thank you midori! and i promise not to tell everyone you're 52.

that's all for now. i'm off to catch a ferry.

day 1, 5:20am, the start

i don't have much to say other than i've begun. it's early. the magnitude of the adventure before me has not yet sunk in. maybe i'll find enlightenment on the train. :)

I'm finally going but I'm still not ready!

I first learned about the Shikoku pilgrimage while I was reading my Japan guidebook on my first flight over to Japan. I had originally decided that after maybe a year and a half of work I would have the time, between finishing work and returning to Canada, to do the pilgrimage. That was six years ago. I didn't expect to stay in Japan quite that long.

During those 'extra' years I waited and prepared. I researched and I read. I even managed to pick up a copy of Oliver Statler's Japanese Pilgrimage, a book about Kobo Daishi's 88 Temple Pilgrimage. I started serious prepartions for the trip two years ago. My research expanded into long distance hiking, lightweight backpacking and Zen Buddhism. I made time schedules, budgets, and practiced memorizing The Heart Sutra, Hannya Shingyo (I still don't have it down). I've spent the last eight months sewing stuff sacks and a tarp/poncho, making alcohol stoves and gathering other little odds and ends for the walk.



This is me today putting the finishing touches on my bug netting (and I've been getting ready for eight months) :)






Now the time to start is finally here. I'm going to walk and camp/accept charitable lodging over the next 40+ days and 1200+ kilometers. Suddenly the whole idea sounds insane. It's 10:36pm the night before and I'm finally finished get things together for tomorrow. This blog entry was the last thing on the list. Wake-up time is 4:30am. Tomorrow's destinations are Koya-san, for the official beginning of my pilgrimage and then to a business hotel near Tokushima station, to stay for the night.

I'll be posting updates by e-mail so I won't be able to respond to comments during the walk. However, my e-mail address is in the sidebar. Feel free to drop me a line.

Ganbaremasu!