Day 53: Train Magic, Ramen and a Minor Panic Attack

Steps: 15.058 / 35.758 (12,3km/30ish km?)

Temples: 83

“Train magic “ is a term Jonas has come up with for those times when we use public transportation to fix logistics around sleeping and/or luggage storage.

When the trail follows the train tracks, it’s sometimes nice to book a few nights in a row near a station, and then use the railways to go back and forth from where you left off the day before.

This allows us to not bring all our stuff, hang laundry to dry or, like today, change up the order of the temples to accommodate differing energy levels.

Jonas is still not completely up to speed, so instead of visiting temples 80-82, which all lie high up, we went instead to temple 83, after which Jonas took a train to the hotel and I continued alone on foot (a few kilos lighter even, because Jonas brought with him all the gear I didn’t need)

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I have a thing for city gardens (I much prefer them to museums for instance) and todays trail ran right by Ritsurin garden, which is known worldwide as one the most spectacular Japanese gardens.

Needless to say, I brought a bento box and spent a few hours strolling around admiring the beautiful scenery.

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After that, I walked straight along on a busy road for 1,5 hours before catching a train back to Jonas at the hotel.

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I didn’t really have to walk those extra 8 kilometers but at some point it just becomes a matter of principal to “walk the whole trail” ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

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Ended the day with ramen and a minor panic attack when I discovered I had gotten the dates wrong on the accommodation I booked for temple 87 and 88. I called and clarified and apologized (in Japanese/google translate) and everyone was very nice and understanding, of course.

But damn can I get myself worked up and beaten down all at the same time like nobody’s business when I make a mistake. Better start listening to Jonas-San when he tells me I’m a rockstar for even trying in the first place.