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.”
Saturday, September 13, 2008
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?
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.
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.
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
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.
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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!
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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!
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
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.
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.
Sunday, September 7, 2008
Prologue III
It is the last night in this United States of America. The next time I write Emi and I will be in Japan. We are packed and are more than ready to depart. I found the articles stuffed into our modest size bags very revealing. Regarding clothing, it is at the minimum. I am only taking two fast drying underwear and socks, one aloha shirt, three fast drying t-shirts, a pair of gloves, shorts, and a wool cap. All that for 50 days. More revealing was the meds that I needed that marked the trip a geriatric one… let me be more accurate, a GERIATRIC one. In my bag there is a cornucopia of drugs: starting with common fruit flavored antacids, two high blood pressure medications-atenolol and terazosin, soothing valium, pain killing vicodin, pain killer # 2 naprosyn, anusol for you know what and if you don’t know I ain’t going to tell you, a large bottle of Benadryl, Eucerin lotion, Triamcinolone acetonide ointment for rashes and whatevah, and anti-foot fungal ointment for my chronic athletics feet. The only thing I’m not bringing is awa, soma, and Johnny Walker Red. Further, Emi is bringing her own supply of meds. Is this not pathetic or what? The sad thing is that I need every one pill, ointment, and salve and even then I may be home sooner than scheduled.
Oh, and by the way, I am bringing a ukulele.
Oh, and by the way, I am bringing a ukulele.
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