Steps: 27.478 (23,4km)
Temples: 40
This morning, cheered on by signs made by children in the local community, we climbed the 300m elevation separating Kochi from Ehime.
Once at the top, we had a quick breakfast with a last view of Kochi, before heading back down on the other side of the mountain.
Ehime is the prefecture that represents spiritual enlightenment, and unlike Kochi, which is mostly flat, we are now headed into much more mountainous terrain.
Given that our last border crossing happened in a train/trance, it felt extra special to physically step across the invisible line and into a new chapter of the journey.
An hour into Ehime, I earned one of Jonas’s trademark Knowing Smiles when, after walking in silence for a while, I exclaimed “so … I guess enlightenment doesn’t really happen right away huh?”
The Knowing Smile is one of the silent forms of communication we have developed after knowing each other for half a lifetime (or several, if you believe in that sort of thing). It means something along the lines of “I know you know you’re being a little silly, but I find your silliness charming, so it’s okay”.
And then, something magical happened. We were walking through a citrus grove and noticed a big, white cherry tree up ahead. A bike was parked near it, and when we approached we saw there was an elderly gentleman sitting beneath it. He had a whole table laden with sake and snacks, and three tatami mats lay around it. He waved us over.
He clearly came up there for the sole purpose of giving out food and drink to henrōs, after having completed the pilgrimage four times himself.
He didn’t speak much English, so we sat a while in silence enjoying the food and the view, before breaking out google translate. I don’t think he had ever seen it before because he found it very clever.
When I pointed to the food and had google translate my ubiquitous joke that “it’s easier to carry it in your stomach than in your backpack“ he laughed and googled back “that was funny!”
After such a lovely encounter, (and a generous cup of sake) the last 5 kilometers to temple 40 came easily.
Temple 40 is the temple that lies the furthest from no 1, so now there is really only one way forward. If today is any indication, I think we’re going to enjoy our time in the prefecture of Enlightenment.
Hvor er det dejligt at læse om jeres eventyrlige rejse❤️
Vi er på vej hjem fra Ålborg efter en forrygende koncert med Nordkraft Bigband.
Vi tog afsted efter frokost og lagde ud med kaffe og kage i Salling Ålborg og var oppe på Rooftop, hvor vi nød en vand med udsigt over Limfjorden og hustage. Ikke så stor som i Århus.
Købte en sandwich hos Anitas, som vi tog med og spiste i studenterhusbaren med en øl til hver.
Kl 19 ku vi komme ind i salen og koncerten var slut kl 21.30.
I morgen skal jeg køre Conny og Kitte på besøg hos Hannah og Otto. Jørgen måtte ikke komme med, fordelt var en dametur😊 han skal også på veteranhjemmet.
Fortsat go tur til jer to❤️❤️🙋♂️🙋♀️
E45 er rimelig fredelig på det her tidspunkt af dagen