===== Shishikui 宍喰 → Kiragawa 吉良川 Temples: 24 Hotsumisaki-ji (最御崎寺), 25 Shinshō-ji (津照寺), 26 Kongōchō-ji (金剛頂寺) Weather: Cloudy + Rain Travel Method: Bus + Walking Distance: (+40) 27 km ===== Morning. Fold futon. Open curtains. Sunshine. It rained. Pack. Eat. I move around as quietly as I can. Aurelie is still sleeping, and I enjoy extending morning quiet before the day begins. At some point, something clatters and I hear Aurelie wake. ...
===== Kiragawa 吉良川 → Kōnomine-ji 神峰寺 Temples: 27 Kōnomine-ji (神峰寺) Weather: Sunny Travel Method: Walking Distance: 25 km ===== My cell is going to die. That’s my first thought when I wake with it squashed under my shoulder, overheated and drained of the full battery it had last night. I can feel the film of sweat on my face, even though I woke up several times from the breeze that carried increasingly cool air. ...
===== Kōnomine-ji 神峰寺 → Ioki 伊尾木 → Aki 安芸 → Akano 赤野 → Yasu 夜須 → Kagami 香我美 Temples: None Weather: Sunny Travel Method: Walking Distance: 35.3 km ===== I woke up in the middle of the night only once, which is an accomplishment. I wake again in the dark before 5:00 because I had originally wanted to climb to the peak and see sunrise. Finally, my alarm goes off again at 6:00, and I’m behind schedule. ...
===== Kagami 香我美 → Nankoku City 南国市 → Kochi City 高知市 Temples: 28 (Dainichi-ji 大日寺), 29 (Tosa Kokubun-ji 土佐国分寺), 30 (Zenrakuji 善楽寺) Weather: Sunny → Cloudy → Rain Travel Method: Walking Distance: 26.9 km ===== The birds begin chirping just before night melts into dawn. It’s not even 5:00am. I peek over at the henro on the other side of the hut. He hasn’t stirred. Feeling justified, I pull up my covers again. ...
===== Kochi City (高知市) Temples: 31 Chikurin-ji (竹林寺), 32 Zenjibu-ji (禅師峰寺) Weather: Cloudy with Sunny Parts Travel Method: Walking Distance: 17.1 km ===== My alarm goes off in the pitch-black room. I resent it with a passion I never felt when woken by sunshine and the cheerful birds after a sleepless nojuku night. In the fog of fatigue after a first good night’s rest, I drag myself out of the fluffy comforter and soft bed, change, and head downstairs for the complimentary breakfast. ...
===== Kochi City (高知市) Temples: 33 Sekkei-ji (雪蹊寺), 34 Tanema–ji (種間寺), 35 Kiyotaki-ji (清滝寺) Weather: Sunny Travel Method: Walking (Train + Bus to and from last walking point) Distance: 20.7 km ===== While the coffee is brewing I drop a slice of sumomo, sour peach, in my mouth. In the bowl beside the red juicy cuts are yellow ones from the Tosa Buntan, a local pomelo-like fruit. My host brought them over from her parents’ house next door. ...
===== Kochi City (高知市) → Susaki Henro Hut (須崎遍路小屋) Temples: 36 Shōryū-ji (青竜寺) Weather: Cloudy with Sun Travel Method: Walking + Boat Distance: 21 km ===== Today is a series of unfortunate events, but it started off beautifully. I get up early to enjoy breakfast before leaving my Airbnb house. This is my chance to eat a full spread unlike the usual onigiri and snacks that I have on the go. ...
===== Susaki Henro Hut 須崎遍路小屋 → Agiri Kubokawa Michi-no-Eki アギリ窪川道の駅 Temples: None Weather: Rain Travel Method: Walking + Train Distance: 18.7 (+ 19) km ===== I wake up to a morning drizzle and check my foot. It’s still the size of a golfball, but curiously not an angry purple. I’m lucky. A millimetre off and I would probably be back in Kochi City, in the hospital. I stop myself from looping yesterday’s fall in my head, from thinking about that one fateful moment, that one avoidable step. ...
===== Agiri Kubokawa Michi-no-Eki アギリ窪川道の駅 –> Kubokawa 窪川 Temples: 37 (Iwamoto-ji 岩本寺) Weather: Rain Travel Method: Walking Distance: 18.7 km ===== My alarm goes off and I reluctantly unzip my tent flap, poke my head out, and sit up on the bench. Cleaning up, packing, having breakfast, chugging half of the two-litre bottle to offload weight fill up my first hour. Whether I rush or take my time, I’ve discovered don’t stray far from this hour mark. ...
===== Somewhere in Takaoka-gun (高岡郡) Temples: None Weather: Cloudy + Rain Travel Method: None! Distance: 0 km ===== ‘Stay’ is a charming word in a friend’s vocabulary. – Louisa May Alcott Stay has enticed travellers to lay down roots, caused vagabonds to give up their wanders. Mystics and monks in deep jungles and remote mountains entice nomads to become disciples and they never leave their hamlet retreats again. Whether spoken by a life-long friend or a newfound connection, the word has equal power when the stars align. ...