Author Archives: Bill

As the business hotel we stayed at wasn’t serving breakfast, there is no picture of breakfast today. Image instead a photo of a bun and a banana, individually wrapped in plastic, along with a mandarin orange fruit cup, and a bottle of Starbucks Cafe Mocha, all from 7-Eleven. I decided against walking the pilgrim routeContinue reading “Day 15: Temples 28, 29 and 30”

Between the Yokohama Golf Tournament, train schedules, and mother and child reunions, we had fallen half a day behind our intended schedule. I had originally hoped to have two hard “push” days rewarded by a rest day in Kochi, but we were now about three and a half hours behind. There are no good placesContinue reading “Day 14: Kochi City”

We started out to Temple 27 (Konomineji – “God Summit Temple”) around 7:15 a.m. It wasn’t going to be a long walk, but it was going to be a steep one. The temple sits at 424 meters above sea level and considered another nansho (“difficult journey”) site. However, it is paved most of the wayContinue reading “Day 13: Temple 27”

It was going to be a less stressful day, but we did have some time deadlines we did have to meet. We awoke at 6:00, ate at 6:30, and started at just after 7:00 a.m. on the 30 minute hike up to Temple 26. Kongochoji (Temple 26 – “Vajra Peak Temple” or “Western Temple”) wasContinue reading “Day 12: Temple 26 and Monet’s Garden”

I should have brought larger shoes. I had read that long distance hikers should buy their shoes from one-half to a full size bigger. I bought one-half size bigger and the only place I’m getting blisters is between my toes because my feet are expanding to the sides and have nowhere to go. They’re onContinue reading “Day 11: Temples 24 and 25”

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 KainanContinue reading “Day 10: Walking Day”

The next time someone tells you that you need to walk on a beautiful coastal mountain trail, follow their advice, but not on a day when you have to hike an additional 5 hours afterward. Since our current lodging is a hostel, meal plans are not included among the options. Breakfast this morning was aContinue reading “Day 9: Bekkaku Temple 4”

After preparing for the day, we only a 0.6 mile walk to Byodoji (Temple 22 – “Temple of Equality”). It’s a place where people pray to prevent misfortune and the main deity, Yakushi Nyorai, can be worshiped from either the front or rear of the main temple. What interested me most was the signature ofContinue reading “Day 8: Temples 22 and 23”

Alarm: 6:00 am; Breakfast: 6:30 am; Start: yada, yada, yada. After completing our side trip off of the main henro michi (“pilgrim road”), we had to backtrack 5.2 km to the town of Katsuura to start our climb to Kakurinji (Temple 20 – “Crane Forest Temple”). Temples 20 and 21 are considered the next nanshoContinue reading “Day 7: Temples 20 and 21”

We woke again at 6:00 a.m., had breakfast at 6:30 and were out the door just after 7:00. We didn’t have too far to go today as our lodging was just over 10 miles away at Fureai no Sato Sakamoto. However, after dropping our backpacks off, we planned to climb 300 meters to Jigenji (BekkakuContinue reading “Day 6: Bekkaku 3”