day 31, 12:34pm, when religions collide

i just met an elderly woman who tried to convince me that i was making a mistake and that i should stop the pilgrimage. she was speaking pretty quickly, but i think she was trying to explain why shingon buddhism is wrong and why some other sect/religion was right. i wrote down a few key words to look up later.

i thought it was interesting because either david turkington or don weiss described having a similar experience in their travel journal.

it's difficult to explain the reasons for the pilgrimage so i went to the standard "i like hiking, i like travel". it didn't seem to matter. she thought i should stop. so i excused myself and continued my misguided pilgrimage.

this is the third time someone has tried to convert/stop me.
the first was from the "church of happiness". i don't know the japanese name, but it sure is a good name in english. he stopped me on the side of the road, gave me a brochure. maybe he thought i was tired and searching for an easier way. :)
the second were church of latter day saints, or jehovah witnesses, or mormon. i can never remember who split into what.
they were japanese. they gave me a copy of the watchtower in japanese. i just told them i was athiest. it translates well and it's always the easiest way to escape that group.

i did run into a pair of american mormon missionaries, but they only waved. they are here to convert japanese. not an easy task. :)

still walking,

day 31, 10:41am, getting soft

it's finally stopped raining. i'm in that cool inbetween time after the rain and before the sun. it's already starting to feel likd a sauna.
i've got a straight stretch of road and a nice sidewalk so h thought i'd get the posts up to date.

yesterday's climb was nice. it didn't rain for the whole morning so i managed to get up and down with no problems.
at the top i met two walking henro, a man and a woman in their 50's. they had stayed at the same minshuku the night before and seemed to have become quite good friends.

i joined them for an early lunch and we walked down the mountain together. they set a blistering pace and i had a hard time keeping up.

it was a fast trip down the mountain and we went our seperate ways near the bottom. they both had already visited temples 61 and 62 the day before. i hope we cross paths again.

it was a much slower afternoon. it started raining, the heaviest thus far on the trip, and i wasn't able to make it as far as i had planned.i picked out a closer shelter that was listed on my map, but when i arrived there was no shelter.

i was wet, it was getting dark and i was wandering down the highway feeling a bit hopeless. singing helped for the first half hour. i guess i was hoping for some more osettai magic. :)

well, i came across a rundown business hotel that wasn't listed on my map. 3000 yen. shower, washing machine, air conditioning, dry.
the rest of the night went well.

i slept in today and got a bit of a late start. i'm off to temple 64.

later,

day 29, 8:35pm, ufo

i just saw a glowing dot fly by the hut.
are there any glowing insects in japan?
if not, maybe it was a ufo, a very small one. but then i don't know, i don't have my contacts in. :)
night

day 29, 8:08pm, real hunger

ok, my last post was going to be this post but it turned into a post about the rain. i forgot to change the title, hence the completely unrelated title.

hunger. i'm really hungry. all of the time. even after i eat, and my stomache is full my brain is telling me i need more food. it's like the food in my stomache isn't digesting fast enough and my body can't wait any longer.

i've found one short term solution that makes the hunger disappear. i eat an ice-cream bar and chase it with 500ml bottle of water or tea. it's wonderfully cold and it produces a filling sugar liquid slurry in my stomache which turns off my sense of hunger for a while.

i kind of feel like a hummingbird. i get nutritious food in the morning and evening, but during the day i only want sugars.

i had read about the weightloss and feelings of hunger on long distance hikes. i thought i would be immune since this is not the wilderness and there is food everywhere. it is an interesting feeling.
later,

day 29, 8:08pm, real hunger

ok, my last post was going to be this post but it turned into a post about the rain. i forgot to change the title, hence the completely unrelated title.

hunger. i'm really hungry. all of the time. even after i eat, and my stomache is full my brain is telling me i need more food. it's like the food in my stomache isn't digesting fast enough and my body can't wait any longer.

i've found one short term solution that makes the hunger disappear. i eat an ice-cream bar and chase it with 500ml bottle of water or tea. it's wonderfully cold and it produces a filling sugar liquid slurry in my stomache which turns off my sense of hunger for a while.

i kind of feel like a hummingbird. i get nutritious food in the morning and evening, but during the day i only want sugars.

i had read about the weightloss and feelings of hunger on long distance hikes. i thought i would be immune since this is not the wilderness and there is food everywhere. it is an interesting feeling.
later,

day 29, 11:12am, hunger

yesterday was a long day. it was raining. it wasn't heavy rain, just constant on and off rainy season rain.
first it would rain heavy enough that i'd need my poncho. then the rain would lighten up and then the pavement would steam. my poncho would turn in to a greenhouse and i would bake. finally, the rain would become an almost invisible drizzle and i would start to debate whether it would be worth stopping to take off the poncho, or whether i should wait for the next shower.

the rain stopped around 1pm. i made it to temple 58 at around 6:00pm. the temple was closed for the evening but i had called ahead to ask if i could use their tsuyado.

and who was at the same tsuyado last night? \3M obosan! i just can't escape him. i'll just have to accept that i'll be seeing a lot more of him over the rest of the trip. it could be worse. he's much friendlier and cleaner than some other henro i've met.

temple 58, senyuji, was a nice temple and the seemed sincere in their religious study. some temples appear to be nothing more than glorified tourist traps.
the staff at the temple invited me to attend today's morning service. i was interested in having a look plus i wanted to be polite since stayed at their tsuyado.
it was interesting. there was chanting, praying, and offerings. basically it was religion, but with decorations that i'm not used to.

well, i just left temple 59 and i'm heading to temple 60, the second last big mountain. i don't think i'll make it today. i'll probably stay at a rest hut at the base of the mountain tonight.

later,

day 28, 9:33pm, close, but just a moment to late

i just witnessed a cas accident. well, i heard a car accident and turned around to see the results.
no one was seriously injured, but the two young guys in the "yakuza" car will need a tow truck and a check up at the hospital.

what's really interesting <there goes the ambulance> is that i had just walked through that exact point about 15 seconds earlier. i'll be pondering that the rest of the day.

i promise i'll stay safe. no shortcuts.
later

day 27, 10:02pm, rest hut 2

a rest hut in the city

day 27, 10:00pm, rest hut 1

a rest hut in the hills

day 27, 9:38pm, heat island

today's walk through matsuyama city was hot! i'm missing the mountains already. even after all the complaining i did about the hills and the rain.

i'm currently about 12km north of temple 53.

i don't really feel like i have much to write about. i've gotten used to this life on the trail. it's all starting to feel normal. if i woke up tomorrow and didn't have to walk all day, i'm not sure what i would do with all of that time.

if i get some time, i'll make a post about a henro's daily routine.

night

day 26, 9:40pm, contest!

dogo onsen was wonderful. it loved the atmosphere. i showered, i had a bath, i shaved, and i weighed myself. dogo onsen had a scale and i just couldn't resist.

the contest is simple. colin began the trip with a weight of 113kg. (yes, i know, pretty big). how many kilograms do you think colin the henro has lost after 25 days of walking.
to enter send an e-mail to the e-mail address in the right column of the blog with your guess in the format of 00.0kg.
the person with the guess closest to the actual answer will win a prize. ties will be decided by coin flip.

some details that may help you in your guess.
colin is: 31 yrs. old, 193cm tall
colin has: walked an average of 29.7km a day for 25 days, has been eating well, no chocolate, almost no soda, but his favorite treat on the trail is ice-cream and he's received lots of hard candy as osettai.
colin ate: noodles, potato salad, 500mL of milk and 1L of green tea approx. 1 1/2 hours before weighing.
colin also: had a bath, shaved and used the little boys room before weighing. :)

good luck everyone, deadline is saturday.

night, ;)

day 26, 9:19pm, youth hostel has internet!

yeay! a keyboard! it's too bad all the energy and creativity has been sucked out of me.

but i'll use this opportunity to answer a few of the questions i've received.

snake count 24! i see most of the snakes either in the grass beside the rice fields or on the pavement on the side of the road. i usually see them just as they start moving away which is at about 3m. a few times i've nearly stepped on them because they are hidden in the brush so well. snake number 21 scared the hamburgers out of me because when i nearly stepped on it it freaked out and started flailing around. i thought it was trying to bite me. most encounters are not so dramatic. and i've never seen one near where i was sleeping.

the places i sleep. when i can't get a free room, the next best thing is a rest hut. they do resemble covered picnic areas, although the nicer ones are quite big and are walled around most sides. you could probably fit a 2-person tent inside on the concrete. i try too look for rest huts that have washrooms and running water nearby, like the place i stayed last night. i took a picture of a basic rest hut with my cellphone. i'll post it up later.

walking and distances. i determine my daily walking distances by adding up the labelled distances in my guidebook. the road distances seem accurate but the trail distances always seem to be underestimated. i don't think it takes into account all of the turns and switchbacks.
the signs on the trail never seem to be reliable. one time, i came to a sign that said "next temple 3.0km", then just up around the bend there was a second sign that read "next temple 2.5km". that's always a nice surprise, however in this case after another 15min of walking a third sign read "next temple 3.3km". there must be someone having a little fun with the henro.
these days, i'm walking 1km in about 12-15min depending on the trail and time of day. it gets pretty hot at 3pm and i start walking pretty slow. :)

my body and weight. everyone wants to know about what i'm looking like these days. well unfortunately there will be no picture. however, there will be a contest! (not for a picture). i'll put the details in my next post.

day 26, 7:23pm, old hostel

well i didn't quite make it to temple 51. i ended up arriving at the youth hostel at 6:40pm.

it's not much of a "youth" hostel though. i must be the youngest person there by at least ten years.however the price is right, and i'm clean and i've got a load of laundry on the go.

i am right now walking to dogo onsen to get really clean and to relax a bit.

later,

day 26, 2:16pm, mushi atsui!

in other words, hot and humid.

wow, it's hot. i'm out of the mountains and just entering matsuyama city.

i'll try to reach temple 51 before they close at 5pm. there is a youth hostel nearby if i don't make it.

i thought i'd try to break away from \3M obosan. i've spent 4 of the last 5 nights with him. also, if i can make it to temple 51, i can go to dogo onsen this evening.

dogo onsen is considered to be the oldest and most well known onsen in japan. i'm looking forward to it.

later,

day 25, 7:53pm, no rain!

no rain yet atleast. i don't know where it went. last night's forcast said it's supposed to rain all week.

i'm sleeping next to \3M obosan again tonight. our walking paces are about the same, and there are only so many places to stay. unless i put in 39km tomorrow we'll probably at the same shelter again.
i made it to temples 44 and 45. temple 45 was very much like the stereotypical asian mountain temple where the martial arts hero goes before he (or she) starts kicking butts. it was pretty cool.

and the best part of temple 45 is that it's on the side a steep mountain which has no road, no gondola, no cable car. so the bus and car henro have to sweat out the 20 minute climb to get to the temples. it's not very "buddha" of me to enjoy the suffering of others, but it did make me smile (a little).

29.3km today. snake count 22! (that one scared me good)

going to temples 46 and 47 tomorrow.

night

day 24, 8:30pm, the henro experience

i've got some extra time, so i thought that i might address a few questions i've received in the e-mail.

there are many different kinds of pilgrims on the pilgrimage. i would say 60%+ are at retirement age. maybe 10% are <35.about 70% are bus henro and will complete the circut in 12days. the bus tours are well oiled machines. they can get 20 people in and out of a temple faster than i can get myself sorted out. i met an american grad student who was studying the pilgrimage. he tried part of the bus tour and he said it was surreal. temples all day, parties all night.
some bus henro seem more serious than others. i imagine you can chose the tour that suits your expectations.

about 25% are car or motorcycle henro. some are doing it in one trip, others stop by the temples when they're in the area. there are a lot of casual visitors on the weekend. my impressiom was that the car henro were more focused on the experience. most are simply not physical able to walk around the island. others may not have the time available. i've met a lot of priests who are doing the trip alone by car.

the last group would be walking or bicycling. everyone has a story. if the person has a shaved head it's usually an interesting one (in japan, when you've made some mistake shaving your head is a way to start fresh, or shame yourself. i might have that not quite right).
most of the people walking are older men. i've met 5 women and 5 people under 40. about 1000 people walk the pilgrimage each year and that number is increasing. during the peak seasons, spring and fall 20 people may go by a specific point in a day. in summer, right now it's about 2 or 3.

there are a lot of german names in the logbooks. i never checked the net, but maybe the pilgrimage is popular in europe too. i can see how it is similar to german volksmarche culture. a walk, follow the signs, collect the stamps.

well i hope that provides some insight. it's hard to develop an essay when you're typing ten words a minute. :)

if there are any other questions out there, send an e-mail. i'll do my best, time permitting.

night

day 24, 8:08pm, rain, rain and more rain

i'm lucky again to be indoors. i'm in another tsuyado, or in this case a daishido (another term that i don't have the exact meaning for). i'm sleeping next to \3M obosan again! we talked quite a bit about the trails going up to temples 44 and 45. he told me about which paths to avoid and where there are some nice places to stay.

i'm feeling a bit better now than i was earlier in the day. although, i have another rainy day of steady uphill slopes ahead. add in a few mountain passes and it makes for a challeging day (was about to write "moral crushing day", but i'm trying to stay positive!)

let's hope there's more cloud than rain tomorrow. :)