Steps: 40.684 (31,1km)
Temples: 12
へんろころがし (henro-korogashi) – literally “where the henro falls down” – is a term used to describe sections of the pilgrimage that are especially taxing. Today we tackled the first of these sections as we climbed over not one but three mountain tops (the equivalent of 501 floors) to visit temple number 12.
True to form I had worried all evening, and even had trouble falling asleep, wondering if we were gonna make it across in time for our pre-booked stay at a ryokan (traditional Japanese inn) on the other side. All the books said it took 5-6 hours to reach the temple, then another hour to descend and then another two hours to get to our ryokan.
But of course it all went fine. Once again we were incredibly lucky with the weather, and especially on the downhill sections we thanked the mountain gods that it wasn’t raining or slippery, since it was otherwise the perfect setup for a broken ankle. We even made it to the temple in a little less than 5 hours!
I will say though, that we were incredibly thankful for the training we have been doing in preparation for this trip, and as well for having our walking sticks, which really helped take a load of the legs on both the ascends and the descends.
Once at the top we performed the usual ritual of bowing, bell ringing and incense burning before sitting down for a well deserved lunch break. We still had another 3-4 hours to go, however, so after 45 mins it was again time to dawn our backpacks and head on down the mountain.
Around 16.15 we staggered up to the most wonderful little ryokan, and are sending Omotoさん a loving thought for having helped us find and book it two days ago. Within 5 mins of arriving, we were told that the bath would be ready in ten minutes, and by now we are clean, fed and beyond ready for bed ✌️
