Steps: 30.508 (23,4km)
Temples: 46
Today we got up at the ass crack of dawn to descend the mountain and get to rest hut Sakamotoya before the rain set in.
It … almost worked. We still got some rain on the way there, but thanks to Jonas’ ingenious (and slightly inappropriate) new use of the walking stick, our shoes only got damp and not soaked.
We spent a couple of hours reading and relaxing at the rest hut, waiting out the rain, before walking the last 5k to temple 46.
Temple 46 and 47 lie very close to each other, but since we will be coming back later* we decided to save no 47, and only visit no 46.
We then hopped on a bus to Matsuyama, grabbed a burger from a nice little joint close to the station, and got on an express train to Imabari. Three day’s worth of walking done in less than two hours.
*The reason we are skipping the Matsuyama-adjacent section, is that we will be coming back to the city for Golden Week. Golden Week is at the beginning of May, where all Japanese have a holiday simultaneously, and accommodation can be hard to find as a result (We booked hotels in Matsuyama more than a month ago, and are glad for it now, where everything seems to be sold out on booking.com).
It’s been a long day, so I’ll sign of now with these encouraging signs that lined the road down from the mountains – curtesy of the local elementary school children <3
So friendly schoolchildren in Japan!
Wish you a good sleep and another good walk tomorrow😘🙋♂️🙋♀️
Thank you for coming to our hamburger shop. Take care on your journey 🙂