Steps: nope
Temples: nope
The rain came last night with a vengeance. Laying awake listening to the sound of hard rain thundering on the ceiling of our little guest house, I felt extremely grateful we didn’t have to be out walking in it.
I also felt something else, however. My stomach wasn’t feeling so well. Rumbling and churning, nauseated, I … Read more
Steps: 31.462 (30,6 km)
Temples: 23
We’re moving towards Kochi, which means that accommodation-options, convenience stores and temples are all getting fewer and further between.
Last night we had another frantic booking situation going on for about 30 mins in the reception of our hotel. Even though we were trying to book 3 days in advance, everything was full, and … Read more
Steps: 21.505 (17,5km)
Temples: None (but we did have breakfast at a small shrine which was somehow related to temple 22…)
Today has been the first day without any temples. The route from no 22 to 23 is only around 20 kilometers if you follow the main road, but knowing that we were going to be tired after yesterdays mountain … Read more
Steps: 35.028 (26,5km)
Temples: 20 + 21 + 22
We slept like babies at minshuku Kakufūtei and woke up well rested to head out the door by sunrise at 6.30.
Last night our hostess made us a delicious dinner, and while we ate, we communicated with our host via google translate, which only … Read more
Steps: 20.518 (17,5km)
Temples: 19
They say you can’t buy happiness but this morning at temple 19 we decided to try anyway. Most temples sell an assortment of little charms and when we found some paper knots that promised happiness for the small price of only 200¥ we couldn’t resist.
It seemed to work because so far we have had … Read more
Steps: 22.454 (18,5km)
Temples: 18
Today was a slow one. Mentally, physically we needed to chill so we spent most of the morning in Tokushima Central Park (where we saw a one-of-the-longest-of-its-kind-stone-slab-bridge!) before slowly venturing south along the highway towards temple 18.
Our feet were tired after two long days of walking so the pace was slower than usual, with … Read more
Steps: 35.334 (32,5km)
Temples: 13 + 14 + 15 + 16 + 17
Today I almost quit. Objectively speaking, we have had a great day, clear skies, almost no elevation, good companionship and now we’re at a hostel with a lovely owner. But I would honestly rather climb to temple 12 three days in a row than have to repeat … Read more
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.
Steps: 34.107 (29,3km)
Temples: 9 + 10 + 11
Today we started to realize why we haven’t seen that many other henrō on the road so far – we have simply been sleeping in too late 😅 But when we got up at 6.30 today and headed out the door around 8 (as the last ones, mind you) we spent … Read more
Steps: 30.303 (24,2 km)
Temples: 4 + 5 + 6 + 7 + 8
Day four ironically started off with us not being able to find temple 4. Luckily our host had suggested we leave our backpacks and pick them back up when we came back to temple 5. As we passed by an old lady walking slowly up the … Read more
