day 24, 9:49am, shoes

last mail to long to include the shoes photo. :)

day 24, 9:12am, plodding along

no post again on day 23. it was just a regular day. i was a bit tired from the previous two days, but i still was able to move forward.

i had a free room to stay at last night. it was a tsuyado. i think it refers to lodging provided by temples or other similar organizations. there are a number of different terms used for free lodging; tsuyado, zenkonyado, zeninyado. i still haven't sorted out the differences.

yesterday's big event was getting a fresh pair of shoes. <pic> can you pick out which one has been worn for 600km?

i had the foresight to pick up two pairs of shoes for the trip. or rather the shoe sales clerk saw an opportunity to sell two pairs of shoes. she informed me that the shoes should last the average runner (80kg) 700km provided that the foam cushioning was given a chance to recover.
it was getting pretty rough on the feet the last few days. the foam had completely collapsed and i had started to wear through the sole into the foam.

the new pair are a dream. :)

today i head into thd mountains where temples 44 and 45 are located.

there are so many things that i'd like to write. it's difficult to write and walk and at the end of the day i am so tired.

i feel fatigued. i guess i'm in another small slump.

thanks for the e-mails everyone.

snake count 21!
yesterday's distance 24.7km, today's probably about 27km.

later,

day 22, 8:55pm, long, hot days

no post last night. it was a long day. dinner was a bento on the sidewalk at 7:15pm. i went to an onsen from 8pm-9:30pm, and i got to the hut i planned to stay at 10:30pm. and \3,000,000 obosan was staying there too! i caught up to him.

so yesterday's distance was 40.6km and today's was 32.7km. there were some beautiful mountain trails in there. of course on the pilgrimage, any off-road walking is either going up or down a mountain.
i'm currently a couple blocks from temple 43. i'm also starting the return trip to temple 1. mid-point was somewhere between temples 40 and 41.

ok, i'm a bit tired.bedtime, i'll do my best to post tomorrow.

snake count 20!

day 21, 8:39am, good-bye kochi, hello ehime!

no post yesterday. i just wasn't up to it. it was a tough day.
it rained all day yesterday which wasn't to bad by itself. however at about 1pm i missed a turn and ended up hiking up the wrong mountain. the path looked good, but when i got to the top and started down the otherside the path started getting narrower and narrower until there was no path.

it was fairly disheartening. i sang a few rounds of the banana boat song to get my spirits up and headed back down.

i rejoined the trail around 4pm. it was to late to make it to temple 40, so i decided to stop at p shelter on the mountain i was supposed to climb.

the quy, moto nagano, i was staying with the night before was there. i got in pretty late, and we were both pretty wet so there wasn't much conversation this time. i ate some cucumbers and a cold curry boil-in-a-bag(curry bon) before i went to bed. mice ate my raisin bread before i woke up (only some). :)

i'm up early today. the mountain i was on marked the border of kochi and ehime, so now i'm in ehime!
the clouds are opening up and it looks kike blue skies today.
i hope i don't lose my way again. :)

day 19, 7:30pm, snakes!

today was an easy 24km. i walked most of it with another henro, a 24 yr.old from kyoto. we talked all day but i still don't know his name. everyone just calls each other "o-henro-san". the relationships are so fleeting on the trail that names rarely get exchanged.

we're both staying at the same place tonight, so i'll get his name eventually.

we're about 6km west of temple 39. if everything goes well tomorrow, it's about 30km to temple 40 and a free room.

today was a day of snakes. snake count is 17. and i think i might have seen my first habu (the deadly one). it had a very triangular head and a very fat/stout body. it looked very much like a small adder. couldn't get a picture. :(

i did get one of a black snake. i tried to get in close, but this is the best i could do. and that's at about 4ft. away.
night

day 19, 10:10am, pain is temporary, i hope

i'm getting my days mixed up. my last post should be titled day 18. i think it's because that while my trip is on day 19, my number of actual walking days is 18. people are always asking me how many days i've been walking. it's getting difficult to keep track. i rarely even know what day of the week it is.

snake count now 11.
blisters are being managed. still, today will be a slow day. i don't want any stress injuries.

i've had a few calls for any deep insights i've had, any wisdom i've cultivated during my walking. i have had a lot of time to think and work through buddha's four noble truths. it is largely personal and difficult to articulate well. i'll try to get into that more later.

(oh, snake count 12)
but i do have one small piece of personal wisdom i can share.
- regardless of how thirsty you may be, it is inadvisable to chase a 500ml carton of orange juice with a 500ml carton of whole milk.

i can tell you that didn't sit well in the stomache; almost ended up on the side of the road.

well, i have some walking to do. later

day 18, 9:03pm, i did it!, kind of (edited)

well i got in 47km today, which means i'm still about 7km away from where i started from and the rest of my gear.

on my way threw on of the small hamlets that are common along the road, an older woman started chasing me yelling "henro-san, henro-san". i stopped and she gave me a handful of candies. she asked the usual questions and i told her that i was nojuku (a camping henro), and i had 7km to go.

about 5min. later she caught up to me again, with some of her friends following in a car.

the offered me accomodation at their minshuku as osettai. i was a little worried about my gear in the bushes, but i had planned for the possibility that i wouldn't make it back.

i accepted. i've had a bath, i've washed the clothes i have with me, and i'm about to go to bed on a soft futon.
no food though. i had some candies, and they dug up some rice crackers and a boiled egg for me.

i'm pretty hungry but i'm not complaining. i'm clean, comfortable and i have lots of water.

i am fortunate. i don't know how common it is to receive that much charity. although, a person walking in the middle of nowhere, at 7:30pm, an obvious shabby looking henro who is also limping (huge blister today, another story) has a pretty big "in need of charity" sign on their back. :)

ok, night time, later

day 18, 1:44pm, long walk back

well the first 27km went pretty well. i've visited temple 38 and just finished lunch. it's been a beautiful day and there have been some wonderful views of the ocean.

i've got another 6-7 hours of walking, but i should be able to get back to my gear before all the light is gone.

there is a 24 hour convenience store on the way so i'm set for food. mmm... i can taste the slurpee already.

so for those following on a map, i'm going back up the east coast of cape ashizuri. i'll be cutting across to temple 39 tomorrow.

snake count 10, big one today 5ft.+

later,

day 17, 8:35pm, learning from history

(no phone service, will be late)

just spent 40min typing three long stories on this cellphone number pad and i just accidentally erased it all. so here is the abridged version (i'm really tired)

distance today, 42.6km.

snake count now 9, scary! don't know dangerous sn. appearance. regret. :(

day 12, met girl and family, wanted meet foreigner to speak with, was awkward but friendly. today, met again, about 100km from place before, same situation, more awkward, got free coffee, sweet!
hope i don't meet again, maybe hillbilly stalker family. :)
tonight staying 27km north of temple38. plan to put gear in bushes, go there and back tomorrow, stay here sameplace again tomorrow night. inspired by history note in guidebook.tonight, met old guy who just did it today. confidence!

wish me luck, tomorrow 54km!

sleepy, night