Day 10: Walking Day

Posted byBillPosted inUncategorized

From my reading, I understand the walking and the miles will get easier, but that still a few weeks away. Today was a 20-miler that had us limping into the lodge once again.

Since our previous lodge didn’t serve meals, I had planned to take the train we had taken the previous evening from Kainan to Hiwasa back to Kainan. The train didn’t leave until 8:30 a.m. and the ride took 35 minutes. We were headed to a French bakery/cafe called ルペルル (La Perle). I pulled out my phone to check what time they opened only to find they operated Thursday through Tuesday. Wednesday was their down day. What kinda restaurant closes on Wednesday?! I’d been planning the trip for ages and I guess I forget to see if the place was even open when I planned to be there. Sigh. Off to Lawson’s for some cream-filled buns, Boss coffee, and fruit.

Oh, Pearl, why must you tease me with your bread, cake and coffee?!

There’s not a lot to tell about today. We follow the Prefecture Road 55 down the coast, keeping the ocean to our left and the mountains to the right. As far as directions, it was childishly simple. The rub was that it was going to take us nearly 7 hours.

The mountains are nice and the ocean is nice, but this was essentially our view for the day.
Following the coast. We would often see signs telling us our elevation above sea level in meters as well as directions to high ground. We were in potential tsunami territory.
Exiting Tokushima Prefecture (The Dojo of Awakening Faith) and entering Kochi Prefecture (The Dojo of Religious Discipline or The Dojo of Ascetic Training).

Kochi Prefecture is the largest of the four prefectures in Shikoku (四国 – 四 (shi – “four”); 国 (koku – “county”). However, it has the fewest of the 88 Temples with only 11 and only 2 of the bekkaku temples. There are 3 more scheduled days out of 13 crossing Kochi which will be for walking only before entering the prefecture of Ehime.

The Pacific
Surfing is a popular sport in Shikoku and we ran across a number of surf shops and inns that catered to both surfers and pilgrims.
It’s exciting as it looks. I didn’t mind too much as I’d read a number of memoirs wherein the authors described the tedium of this section. I knew that going in so I found myself a bit indifferent to it.

Connor’s feet were behaving much better than yesterday and he surmised that he was being a bit of a catastrophist, imaging ways that might interrupt the pilgrimage which we’re both greatly enjoying. We’re trying out some stretching exercises in the morning before walking and after rest breaks. My feet are fine in the morning, but I’m still hobbling come evening. It’ll work itself out.

We arrived at our inn for the evening, Lodge Ozaki, about 5:20 p.m., went to our separate rooms, bathed, and went to dinner.

My rooom
Dinner at Lodge Ozaki – balled-up lobster tail in the small bowl to the left!

6 thoughts on “Day 10: Walking Day”

  1. Food is as good as it looks- I’ve been happy to find that seafood is a given rather than an extra here. And it is of high quality.

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  2. Bill – these are such interesting posts. Even what doesn’t appear to be the most scenic or thrilling hike is thrilling to me! The food always seems so balanced and nourishing. Does it seem like enough to eat after such long days?

    Christine J. Lizzo | Lead Technical Support Specialist | Seyfarth Shaw LLP 233 S. Wacker Drive | Suite 8000 | Chicago, Illinois 60606-6448 Direct: +1-312-460-6399 clizzo@seyfarth.com | http://www.seyfarth.com

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  3. I’m really enjoying following you on this journey. Love the pictures. Enjoy the rest of your adventure.

    Michele Feinberg Trull | Paralegal | Seyfarth Shaw LLP 233 S. Wacker Drive | Suite 8000 | Chicago, Illinois 60606-6448 Direct: +1-312-460-5227 mtrull@seyfarth.com | http://www.seyfarth.com

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