Day 47: Just Keep Swimming

Steps: 40.010 (35,1km)

Temples: 12 (one of the “extra” temples)

Today was an easy day in the sense that pretty much all we had to do was put one foot in front of the other and walk straight ahead along an even road.

However, our feet and legs felt heavy and by the time we arrived at our hotel by late afternoon we were both just about ready to head straight to bed.

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Since we had gotten a late start, we made a few short stops to eat and drink along the way, but otherwise kept a pretty constant pace throughout. Every kilometer feels twice as long after 2pm and we know better by now, than to take long breaks and push the mileage to the end of the day when we’re feeling tired.

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One of the breaks couldn’t be helped though (and we wouldn’t have wanted to!) when an older lady saw us pass by her garden and called out to us: “ちょと待てちょと待てください!” (Please wait a minute don’t go away!)

She ushered us in and hurried into the house where we could hear her rummaging around in the fridge. It sounded like she was emptying the whole thing. Sure enough a few moments later she came out carrying five little bottles of vitamin D drink and a bag full of various breads.

Our lack of understanding didn’t deter her in the slightest and we sat with her for a while as she spoke animatedly about her children, husband, mountains and/or food – at least that’s what I gathered from the few words I was able to pick out 😅

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We felt lighter and much more energized as we were waved out of the driveway just as enthusiastically as we had been invited in.

Similar to day 39, today also took us right by one of the 20 extra temples of the pilgrimage. This one had the remains of a giant pine tree, originally planted by Kūkai, laying at its entrance.

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We’re spending the night at a hotel chain called “super hotel”. It looks horrible from the outside, but honestly it is one of the nicer hotels we have stayed in. It has all the amenities you could want, including a selection of different kinds of pillows you can choose from in the lobby.

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In spite of this, it is still so cheap, that for the first time we ended up spending more money on our dinner than our accommodation:

One thing is for certain – after today, however tired we may be feeling, it won’t be for a lack of vitamin D 😅