Kochi City

Yesterday we walked to three temples and 15 miles, the last temple located on top of a hill just to make sure we got really tired. We then took a taxi, yes you read it right, we took a air conditioned taxi to Kochi City to stay at a civilized hotel. We are going to rest for one day to give our weary bodies a chance to recover and heal. Then we'll take another taxi back to the place where we left off...that way, no cheating.

We spent the morning walking around looking for a shoe shop so that Emi could buy a new pair of boots. It was either that or cut of some toes. The sales lady said that if Emi had some orthotic arch supports there would have been less pressure on her toes. I bring up this subject, because I told Emi to get a pair before we left and she ignored me as usual. After all my words of wisdom is not...according to her. And talk about walking around, it was like walking in a sauna in Kochi. We were dying and we didn't even have our packs or our henro jackets on. I don't know how we do it, but I guess you just do what you have to.

I must tell you that Japan has such a Hawaiian connection. For one, the people are Japanese, and it makes you feel like you're back in McKinley High School in Honolulu, aka Tokyo High, where the student body is predominantly Japanese. Then there's the weather. It's like Hawaii in summer without the trade winds. And so many of the plants are right out of Hawaii: hibiscus, uluhe ferns, ginger, and even pineapple. Surprisingly, I even saw two places offering lomo lomi massage. Plus the popularity of hula is astounding. I did tell you that La'ia halau has hundreds of students? I even saw a short hula lesson on TV. And then there was “Moana Market.” When I first saw the sign I thought that I must have been seeing things, misreading something like Maruwa Market. My mind reels in wonder what Hawaii would be like today had Japan won the war.

Random acts of kindness

Random acts of kindness

The days are full of reasons to be thankful, the first is that I'm alive and with Emi. Although once in a while she will ask me if I love her sort of as a joke. She asks me her question when I'm suffering and maybe not in the best of mood, which happens to be most of the time. My instantaneous reply is “Later, later. Ask me later,” or here in Japan ”Ato de, ato de or else you might not like my response.” And later it is different, and I am again thankful for her, and then there are the other reasons to be thankful.

For example, starting this morning the surfing minshuku owner, Ten, gave us a bento of spam musubi as a gift, not to mention the glass of shochu he gave me during the night. He also gave us a charm for something that Emi forgot the reason but I will assume to be for good luck; we always need luck. We then took pictures of each other and I told him that I would send him ukulele links, and then with one last shout of “aloha” from the owner we were off for the day.

Then while walking through a small town, Emi had to use the bathroom, and so she asked the local barber. Why not, huh? He replied that the bathroom at the shop wasn't clean enough, so he took Emi to his house close by and left her there so that she could use the bathroom while he went back to the shop. The trust that exists here is unreal. I could go on and on about that subject and I will another day, but for now let me say it too was a complete random act of kindness.

Next, while stopping to cut Emi's new boots to allow more room for her blistered toes, a man who was across the narrow street attending to his potted plants, quietly told his wife to prepare something for us, and so she did, but it was she who called us in for coffee and pastries. And then again it was the husband who told her to offer us honey, and so she did. She made it a point to tell us don't enryo, hold back, so we put the honey on our pastries as if they were merely an excuse to eat the honey. Our middle name became Winnie the Pooh. We couldn't refuse her and her husband's generosity. The husband was a man after my own heart. Their home was humble but their actions so rich.

And it still astounds me how the majority of people that you meet, young and old, walking, sitting, working, or in a car, on a bike, or standing by their house say hello. It is the one and only time I can reply like a real Nihonjin. All I have to do is repeat what they say. I can't say much but I can repeat single words.

September 24

September 24th

Yesterday we walked only 12 miles and got to our destination at 2:30pm, so today we scheduled a 15 mile walk to the temple with our lodgings, the Minshiku Kissaten Kiraku just across the street. Let me tell you we both noticed the added miles. Makes us wonder how we ever walked 20 miles.

Today's minshiku is slightly different. It is located above a kissaten (coffee shop), hence its name. Emi had to call 3 times before the owner answered and said that we could stay there but she would not be cooking dinner, only breakfast. We quickly assured her that that would not be a problem. We could buy our dinner at a grocery store; I love Japanese bentos. When we got there with our bento dinner in hand, no one was there. Fortunately she had told us our room number, 201, so we walked into the room left our bags and went up to the temple, Dainichiji. When we returned there was still no proprietor but the furo was full and so we took our baths and later Emi started the wash. Much later the lady who ran the minshiku knocked on our door and asked what kind of breakfast we wanted, American or Japanese. We jumped at the choice of bread over rice. You can't eat cake every day. The room was small, only 4 and half tatami mats, but it had everything that we needed; a TV, beer and mugicha in the refrigerator located next to the sentaki (washing machine), bedding, and our own toilet and sink. What else do you need? Our bentos only cost $4 each and I can't wait to eat.

There's a subject that I need to cover, equipment. Emi and I thought that we had brought the right stuff to do the trip, and we were close at times and completely missed the mark on other equipment. For example, the boots that Emi bought was picked via the salesperson recommendation after we had told him what we were going to do. We tested them on several short hikes, but here in Shikoku it isn't working, Emi's feet swelled up like hot dogs ready to be eaten and blisters formed like pimples on a teenager. We were forced to slash her relatively new boots to give her toes more room.
Our rain gear, we had used many times at home, but not in this context. I don't care what kind of modern fabric that your rain wear is made off; it doesn't work here. Your real world choice is to be wet from the rain or to be wet from your perspiration, salty or fresh water either way wet. Our clothes were of the new synthetic wicking material, very cool. It dries so quickly that you can wash them in the sink and by the next day they are dry and ready to wear. The only problem is that during the day they're always wet with your perspiration so that after a while it's a good thing that you're walking in the desolated country so that you will not offend others with the smell of clothes gone rotten in the sun. And forget style; think practicality. Emi's stylish pants cut at the calf allowed the mosquitoes and horse flies(?) to readily attack her bare flesh. It was opportunity not fashion to the beastly bugs. Lastly, and surprisingly, not all socks performed the same; some were more prone to give you blisters than others. The only way to find out is to walk 20 miles a day for 2 weeks in Shikoku.

What did work well were our light weight hiking poles, Leki by name, our pack covers, and our light weight umbrellas. You win some; you lose some.

September 23

September 23ed
I didn't write yesterday. I was just too tired; we were both too tired. We ended up walking 20 miles. To add to our grief, the temperature inched up a degree to 31 degrees. Last of all we went up and over two mountains. On top of the first mountain was temple 26. We missed the henro michi, pilgrim trail, and walked up the road that twisted its way up the flanks. It took a arduous 45 minutes to get to the top. Resting at the temple a fellow henro gave us a map (like he knew that we needed one) and told us the trail to the temple was short, very steep but only 15 minutes of hell. I don't know if I believe him completely, nor do I want to. Walking down the trail was beautiful at times, dangerous at others with the possibility of slipping. The mosquitoes rejoiced that we choose the trail over the road.

At the next mountain we decided to be pure of heart and decided to take the trail the entire way instead of staying on the “highway” that hugged the coastline. We met a henro michi volunteer working on the michi, and he said that there hasn't been any upkeep on the michi for 41 years and only now one can have the wonderful opportunity to traversed the old route that Kobodaishi traveled. I started to think, "Boy, are we lucky." And now that we've walked the trail, I'd like to give him a piece of my mind. It was a sweat drenching time going up and joint damaging on the way down, to the point that Emi's damaged ankle decided to go on strike. Thankfully, it got with the program after we got to level ground. The only happy ones on the trail were the mosquitoes that kept us company. It was like an hour of stairmaster effort in a sauna.

After that it was several more hours of walking. The last two hours my little toe blister started to act up, and each step reminded me of the mermaid that wanted to be human. You know where each step she'd take would cause her pain beyond compare. But my grief was nothing compared to Emi who had lost three toe nails some 3 or 4 days ago. When we got to the minshuku we had just enough time for the furo and then dinner. The total time walking for that day was about nine and a half hours, but who's counting. Did I say that before?

One moment of divine intervention occurred with 2 hours to go. A stranger saw us while entering his car. He drove to his home that was located further down the henro michi, and by the time we got there about 20 minutes later, he was standing outside with two glasses of ice tea. We were more buoyed by his act of kindness than the drink that was like water to a man stranded in the desert.

Today, the 23ed, we decided, had to, go easy, so we only walked 13 miles today. Breakfast was at 6am which gave us an early start...hah, hah. We left our bags at the minshuku, Kinsho minshuku in Yasuda City, for our route was up to the temple, Konomineji, and back on the same trail. It was an easy stroll 4km up, 4km down, Just an early walk to warm up for the day. We arrived too early at the inn, Komatsu Ryokan, normal check in is 3pm, and so we waited around until 2:30 and Bogart our way in. It was an older inn, but even then they had AC and a good washer and dryer. It may have been a shorter day but even so we did walk for 7 hours. This was suppose to be an easier day in comparison. It's all relative.

September 21

September 21st

Another hot day walking along the coast in Kochi Prefecture. Our bodies are holding up, barely. Emi's blisters are getting better, but she may becoming down with a cold. We can only hope and pray for the best. Surprisingly my heat rash that was slowly spreading across my body like urban sprawl has gone the way of the wild salmon, slowly disappearing, but like the salmon it may rebound. Replacing the rash I now have 2 blisters on my right foot. Our bodies are plagued with a series of pain and ailments. Emi ignores them while it causes me to worry, never knowing if any one of the pains will lead to something more serious. I don't want to be like that bridge in Minneapolis, working until it didn't.

I am finding Japan to be a conglomeration of noises, most exotic to my ear. The mundane noise is the obnoxious sound of the vehicles when we are walking on the roads. “Cars are cars all over the world, engine in the front, trunk in the back,” as Paul Simon sang. But walking in the mountains there are moments when the chorus of birds make us feel as if we in an aviary. One of only two birds that I do recognize is the Japanese dove. It sounds like ours but it has a distinct Japanese accent, and then there is the Tombi that has a typical bird of prey cry. The insects are the outstanding noise maker. If you've ever seen a Kurosawa movie, the sounds that you hear are real; it is not made up, not a Martin Denny effect, and often it is loud, the volume turned up. And there are the flying bugs the size of small hummingbirds that dive at you for fun or for spite. They sound like a squadron of mosquitoes, and of course they're here too with their malevolent buzz, usually next to your ear. The most interesting sound is an insect that sounds like a bell. At first I'd think that it was a fellow henro close behind me for most of them carry a bell with them, but whenever I turned around, no one was there. Then, especially when I was so fatigued that I was close to hallucinating, I imagined that it was Kobodishi by my side. Then I figured that it had to be an insect, but I still prefer to think that it is Kobodaishi close to me.

the day after the typhoon...

September 19th
It is the morning, 8:15am. The typhoon is still lingering and so are we. We intend to leave just before noon. Hopefully the rain will let up by then, but we are going rain or shine, or should I say rain or deluge.

The food here has been good to great. Last night it was great. They had a saba (mackerel) that they fillet on one side for sashimi and broiled the other side. They had a crab that looked like a horseshoe crab that tasted a bit like lobster. And as usual there were other dishes that I didn't really know but ate which is not like saying a negative, for it's all good. We ate until we could barely move, not because we're gluttons, but because we know we are going to burn up all the food and more. Roughly, we are losing about 2 pounds a week. If that sounds good to you, let me say there are easier ways to lose weight than walking all day, day after day, like just eating less.

Typhoon

It was another tiring day, but they all are. We walked 17.1 miles today from Hiwasa to Kaifu, but whose counting. Actually it doesn't seem to matter how far or how high up you walk, you're still tired. It's all relative. There's tired and then there's really tired, but you can't discern the difference in the amount of fatigue. The only difference that I notice is the degree of difficulty I have falling asleep. The more tired I am the more difficult it is falling asleep due to the pain.

Today might have been a bit worst because during the last hour of walking the typhoon moved it and we got clobbered. It was coming down cats, dogs, and cows at the end of our walk. I will never forget walking in rain that was coming down so hard that it made it difficult to see. It was also at this time that we got lost and had to call the ryokan twice for help and also asked for directions at a beauty shop. Through the haze I could barely make out the lighted name of the supermarket that we were pasing...Manoa Market. Yes, you read right, Manoa Market. And then I had to walk back to the beauty shop to retrieve Emi's walking stick that she left behind. And then we had to cross a long bridge, fully exposed to the full fury of the storm. Oh what fun. By the time we got to the ryokan needless to say that we were soaked. Thank goodness that we had pack covers and umbrellas. We had rain jackets, but we never had the chance to put them on, and sometimes I don't think it does any good, for when you have it on you get just as wet from your sweat. It was cooler today, but the humidity and the exertion got the sweat glands pumping anyway. The innkeepers know just how to dry your shoes; they jamm newspaper in your shoes. By the morning it is dry. Try it. Tomorrow, it may still be raining, pouring exactly. The schedule calls for a 20 mile day, just another day at the office.
By the way we are staying at Iwamoto Ryokan...we are the only guests and the food is oh so delicious!

17th of september

17th of September
Didn't write yesterday. I think that I was too tired. Correct that. I know that I was too tired. We walked up to 2 mountain temples. It was hard. We were past tired; exhaustion is probably more accurate, and just to make it worst near the end of the day we had to climb another mountain, not as bad as the others but by then we were beat.

At the first temple the lady who signed Emi's book (This is one of the traditions that people do.) asked Emi if she did hula. Now that's odd don't you think? It's not like Emi has "I do hula" stencilled on her forehead. But there was an explanation. The lady who ran La'ia, Noriko by name, had a website and she wrote about us, and the lady at the temple figured we were going to be there soon, and she just guessed by the way we looked that we were the ones. Her gift to us was the temple's towel. How nice of her. Is that a small world or what?

Today we walked out of the mountains to the ocean, some 18 miles. Emi's face was a bit puffy this morning which gave both of us concern. We figured out later what was going on when Emi commented that her fingers were puffy too and that it happens to her when her electrolytes are off. That made me think that maybe our electrolytes were off, and then I tasted my sweat that is always dripping down my face. It hardly was salty. We were hydrating, but losing salts. Tonight we poured salt over all our food and even drank salty water. Another lesson learned.

yet another day...

It's the start of another day, September 15th. It's going to rain today. A typhoon is going to brush Japan later and then we will really see some rain, but today it should be a gentle rain.

I used a squat toilet in the morning, but it had bars installed in the front so I could hang on. Never saw that before. It was like riding a bike with training wheels. Still, I worried that I was going to fall off. When I was practicing haunching at home there would be times I would get light headed when standing up too quickly. I had visions of doing an Elvis on his last day on earth when I was finished. Obviously, I didn't or I wouldn't be writing this.
And talking about toilets, last night while in the benjo (toilet or literally convenient place) I discovered that I was sharing it with a spider that made the ones at home look like whimps. It wasn't as big as a tarantula, thank goodness, but it got my attention. So for the whole time there I had to worry that he wouldn't climb the wall to drop down on me, and that a woman would not enter the stall next to me. I did tell you the bathrooms are mixed? No? Well, they are. You could make music together, alto and tenor all the while you're doing your thing. It's togetherness taking to the extreme. Needless to say all that distraction didn't encourage efficiency if you know what I mean.

Each morning Emi and I check our bodies for the signs of our walk. Her six blisters are getting better, uglier but better. Her heat rash is staying mainly around her waist while my rash is spreading from my back and moving onto my shoulders. The rash around my ankles seems to be healing, turning a darker red and becoming flush to the skin. That is a good sign isn't it? The muscle fatigue, pain is staying at a tolerable level. Emi is gulping advil like candy, and I'm not taking anything because I'm a real man and because I'm stupid.

I also do my stretches and exercises in the morning in hope it will make it possible that I finish this trek. I have brought my handy dandy rubber cord as an aid. My PT and chiropractor would be proud.

We finished the day at 1:30 and sat in the rain for some 40 minutes waiting for the ryokan to open. We were still so tired that we were falling asleep in the sitting position. The innkeeper came out early and called us in. She said (to Emi) that she allows the henros to come in early when the weather's bad. I guess rain counts as bad weather. Even though we ended the day at 1:30 it was still 6 hours of waking, and I cannot tell a lie; I was dragging. I wondered if we would get stronger as the days passed or if we would get more beat up. I guess it's the latter.

La'ia

The fifth day of walking is over. It was suppose to be an easier day for we were going to walk only 11 miles compared to 18 but it wasn't easier, or I should say that I'm just as tired as before. So to me it was just another long day walking under the harsh sun.

There was one interesting event that happened during the day. We walked into a hula studio that we serendipitous ran into. No classes were in session, but we talked to the couple that ran the halau. They have hundreds of students. They also go to Waikiki Community Center as we do when we're in Honolulu. I showed them the ukulele that I was carrying. They were impressed (that I was so stupid). I wanted to hula for some reason that I don't understand. It didn't happened. Oh well... We exchanged name cards (meshi); we just might see them in Honolulu sone day. They gave us cold drinks and fans as ossetai. It helped.

A Little bathroom humor

A little bathroom humor for those with dirty thoughts

Seven years ago when we first did a portion of the walk, I vowed to myself that I would use the squat toilets only under the most dire situation, like I was going to hold it for ten days. As it turned out I got a little sick and had to use the toilet several times a day, and being on Shikokou most of the toilets were of the squat type. Now I must say in my own defense that my aversion to squat toilets is for the simple reason that I can't squat. I will not disgust you with any description of my answer to using toilets that were beyond my body's ability to negotiate. Enough to say that I did and it was awful.

So for this trip I prepared myself by practicing...to squat. In the beginning I could only hold the undignified position for seconds, but in time I achieved the ability to stay down for what I deemed to be long enough to complete my business if you know what I mean. And so what do you think happened? Up till now I have seen squat toilets, but there has also been Western toilets present, and of course I'm choosing the easier route. It is not always, “When in Rome do as the Romans.”

Day 4...Temple 17

You know the saying, “I can't believe I ate the whole thing.” Well I can't believe we ate, I mean walked 18 miles today, and need I say it was another hot day. Tonight, we are staying at a businessman's hotel, which means we have to go out to eat, but it was just down on the ground floor from the hotel. It was a izakaya eatery, small plates of almost everything. We had a large bottle of beer, and I had a sochu and bottle of sake, plus steak tofu, rice omlette, yakitori, beef sticks, and horenso sarada, all for some $35.oo including tip; I joke for there is no tipping in Japan, yippy yai yah cowboy. Yasui desu nee.

Tomorrow we are going to go easy. We plan only to walk to one temple, 16.8 KM away. Easy is all relative.

Oh, I must tell you of the one downer that has come our way. While we were at the last temple Emi discovered her walking stick (tsue) was gone. At first we assumed that someone had taken it by mistake for no one takes things in Japan and certainly not from an henro. Henros, including us, leaves their belongings unattended all the time. But we were shocked to see Emi's tsue in the hands of two fellow henros who had been walking in front of us for some time. I might have said something to them, but fortunately we were in a taxi at the time heading for our hotel. I don't know what I would have said to them. My first inclination was to strike out, but that is so against the whole purpose of our trip, and then I wanted to give my other tsue to them in an act of compassion, for between the two they only had one, but I couldn't do it without wanting to make them feel bad for their crime. My heart was not pure. There is a good chance that we will see them again. I don't know what to do. Kawahatsu sensei, if you were here I would ask your advice. Should I say, "I forgive you," or just kick them in their ass?

Day 3...Temple 12

It is apropos that today is the 12th of September and we completed the trek to temple 12. I “fliped” (took videos with the Flip camera) the walk, but I don't think the video shows how difficult the climb is and the it doesn't make you feel the sweat that poured out of our pores. It was a challenge and both Emi and I feel slightly better now that it's behind us although we know that there will be other difficulties ahead.

Just some unrelated thoughts:

The innkeeper at our last ryokan made riceballs for all the henros residing there without any charge. She runs her inn on the honor system. You put money in the basket if you use the washer and dryer, and you have to remind her if you had beer or soft drinks. She'd never make it a go at home.

At one rest stop along the trail I thought I saw a Japanese killer bee. These bees are large, bigger than a bumble bee but with the same yellow and black stripes. Unlike African killer bees, these bees can actually kill you even if you're not allergic to the venom. I saw a dead one some years ago and took a picture of it, but this one was flying and it scared the ---- out of me. Maybe I was seeing things that weren't there but I wasn't taking any chances. I told Emi to run and run we did.

I was thrilled to see a slew of mushrooms on the trail.
I use to study them, and they still hold my attention. I took a lot of pictures of them. I could identify several aminita species, a bolete, and yesterday I saw a puffball just slightly smaller than a vollyball. Like other crazy science type people I was as happy as a drunk in a bar. I took pictures of them all.

The furo at tonight's ryokan, Nabeiwa-so, is a large wooden jacuzzi style tub. Even though we are drained by the high temperatures each day the hot water is wonderful. It soothed our aching muscles and joints and cleaned the dirt and sweat off our bodies.

Day 2...9/11

9/11/08 5:20pm

Another walking ordeal, or fun event depending on your perspective, is over and now we are in our inn waiting for dinner. We are staying at Yoshino Ryokan. We stayed here the last time when we were in the area some years back. It is a stone's throw away from temple 11 and the start of the trail that takes you straight up the mountain to temple 12. The mere thought makes me want to reconsider this fool of a trip but it's too late; I think.

Today was another day walking in the heat. Fortunately there were a few clouds in the sky to block the sun's mean rays, and a whimsical breeze that visited us now and then but never stayed.

I would be inaccurate and remiss if I did not tell you of the little things that makes this trip so wonderful; it really isn't all suffering. First, I'm with Emi, and though we complain about each other, we are only joking, for we do indeed appreciate each others company. Next, the people that we meet along the trail is so nice, shinsetsu nee? The majority will bow (even drivers), say something like ohiyo, konnichiwa, atsui desu nee. Emi and I always respond. It's a good thing that I don't have to say more than a word or two. Otherwise, I'd be in trouble. It reminds me of my youth, growing up in Chinatown without the ability to speak or understand Chinese. My tactic when spoken to in Chinese was to say yes or no in random order. I'm doing just about the same here, once in a while actually throwing in a word or two of Japanese. I'll also resort to muttering chotto matte kudasai and loudly call for Emi to come save me. But back to the nice people...One lady gave us two drinks and a handmade coin purse, just because. And today, while walking to temple 10, a lady came out of a shop and told us that we could leave our bags while we went up to the temple; we did have to come back the same way. Now in the USA and many other places, you'd be a fool to do so, but this is Japan. When we got back, not only were our bags still there, she had cold tea and sweets for us. And then at a coffee shop, the owner gave us extra sweets and two cans of drinks. These random acts of kindness is common and so appreciated. All we have to do is put one foot in front of the other.

Day 1...yikes it's hot!

The first day is over and it could have been worse, but I thank god it wasn't because it was bad enough as it was. We only walked 10 miles by the map, although Emi's pedometer indicated 13 miles. But hey, who's counting.

The outstanding theme for the day was...HOT. It was about about 85 degrees and slightly humid. Emi and I died. just withered away. “Where's the fog? Where's the fog?" we mumbled as we stumbled our way from one temple to another. It was tough. We drank as much as we could, but we couldn't eat. After a wonderful breakfast at 7am, we didn't eat again until 2pm. There wasn't any food around to buy, beg, or steal. By 2pm we weren't even hungry, for we had gone past the hunger stage and were close to passing out from the lack of food and fluids.

Through it all we survived and made it to temple 7, Jurakuji (Temple of 10 pleasures...your choice.). We are staying for the night. We stayed here 7 years ago, but now they have a new building. Everything is so fancy compared to the last time. At that time we slept on tatami and bathed in the community furo. We even have a private bath in our room, the toilet being western with a built in ass washer. Kakkoii. The meal was vegetarian and good. We ate until we were stuffed, but it's not going to equal the calories that we spent during the day.

Because my camera battery died, I had to use the flip video camera to take pictures of the temples. It's a good thing that we have back-ups. We will be psyching ourselves up for tomorrow. It's going to be 14 miles. I'm tired just walking 10 miles. Hope it's not so hot!

At last...

9/9/08
Well we made it. It was a long haul, dealing with air travel, sending our bag to Tokyo, and taking a bus from Osaka, but here we are in Tokushima on the island of Shikoku at the Tokushima Sunroute Hotel. It was 11 hours in the air and 3 hours on the bus with 2 hours in between for little stuff like sending our bag, getting money, buying our bus tickets and going to the bathroom. We are tired, but happy to be here. Watching the flight progress on the small screen in front of my seat was like watching grass grow, time passing at a dull day at work, or waiting for a bad date to end. It seemed like the plane would never reach its destination and then like a miracle, it did. Being in Japan my mind has turned partly Japanese and I thrill myself with my limited ability to read kanji, hiragana and katakana. I am so in tuned to reading Japanese that I read a highway sign as "tow" but it turned out to be merely the icon indicating merging traffic. Sorry that you have to know the character "tow" to get the joke.