Author Archives: Bill

Breakfast wasn’t served until 7:00 a.m., so we got 15 extra minutes of shuteye this morning. Our goal was Temple 45 which was an out-and-back temple and it would take about 2 hours and 30 minutes to get there. It common with destinations like that for the hotel/ryokan/minshuku to let you leave you backpack thereContinue reading “Day 33: Temple 45”

I think it’s going to get harder to keep this interesting. We wake up, eat, walk, visit a temple or walk some more, and then walk some more. The variation comes with when a temple visit interrupts our walking. Most of today was of the walking variety. We walked approximately 17 miles from one innContinue reading “Day 32: Temple 44”

We woke at 6:00 a.m. and, instead of serving breakfast, the inn had provided us with packages of baked buns, some fruit and energy bars instead. While chewing on one of the walnut buns, I noticed a friend had responded almost immediately to something I had posted. I looked up the time at home andContinue reading “Day 31: Bekkaku Temple 8”

After hitting publish last night, it was a little past 8:00 p.m. local time. I had been disappointed the local brewery I had wanted to check out, Garyu Brewery, was closed on Tuesday. When I had originally checked their website, the only hours I could find listed were 11:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m., but IContinue reading “Day 30: Part 2”

I was honestly expecting a much more rigorous day. One where we would leave early in the morning, slog for hours up to a mountain top, and drag ourselves back to the inn just in time for a bath, dinner and the final collapse into the futon. Looking at the elevation profile going up toContinue reading “Day 30: Bekkaku Temple 7”

Today was going to be a relatively easy day. We only had one temple to visit which we could reach within 40 minutes of leaving the minshuku. We also had to arrange an inn in the city of Ozu City to use as a home base for our trip out-and-back to Shussekiji (Bekkaku Temple 7).Continue reading “Day 29: Temple 43”

I should really remember to check my notes before visiting a temple. I get caught up in time schedules and sometime forget to look for the things I previously researched. Since both Connor and I wished to visit Uwajima Castle before leaving for Temple 41, we decided to wait until the 9:00 a.m. opening timeContinue reading “Day 28: Temples 41 and 42”

We got to sleep in a little this morning. Partly because the guest house didn’t serve breakfast until 7:00 a.m. as opposed to our usual 6:30. Also, since we were planning on Bekkaku Temple 6 this evening and the distance between lodgings for the next two days were intended to set us up for theContinue reading “Day 27: Bekkaku Temple 6”

Pretty good sleep for me last night. I was finally able to stand in the morning without fear of pain from the balls of my feet. They’re still toughening up and a blister on my right heel is still metamorphosing into the callus it will become. The feet are getting to where they need toContinue reading “Day 26: Temple 40”