Sidetracked

October 14

I didn't write yesterday, because I was just too tired. We walked from Matsuyama to the outskirts of Imabari, some 18.5 miles. It was a long walk and the last 2 hours was excruciating. Yeah I know you've heard that before but this was worst because I caught a stomach bug and it didn't make things any easier. I want to let it go free but it's clinging on for the time being (pun,pun). Further, whether part of my illness or not, my Achilles tendon started to hurt and continued to the end to make life miserable. My pace slowed to the point snails began to pass me. Emi even offered to call a taxi but by this time my mind had ceased functioning and all I could think of was to finish. Very dumb.

During the day two random act of kindness lifted my spirits but unfortunately couldn't carry me on my journey. A lady came out of her house to give us a bag of home made mochi and later at a temple an older woman all bent over with osteoporosis walked over to where we were eating kakigori (shave ice) to hand us a bag of candy. Shinsetsu,na? The candy was so strange, hard sweet coating with an ume center (ume=shin fan mui).

Today we started off in the rain, but after a few hours and two temples, decided to call it a day. We have just under 2 weeks to go, and must be conservative. If I don't get well, the trip will be over, so we are going to a hotel for me to rest. Bummer. I did think that in 7 weeks something would, could happened to our health, but it's lousy anyway.

I can't wait for this trek, adventure to end so that I can look back and kind of laugh about it. Tolkien writes about adventure. He says that adventure is not something you seek; it comes to you when it is the least expected and when you are in it, it is not a thing to be enjoyed, the outcome unknown and possibly undesirable. It is just something that is happening to you out of your control. I am so tired right now and I want this adventure to end. I want to go back to my warm secure hobbit home and write my memoirs. This experience will not ever happened again, because I don't think that I can do it physically. I know that there are older henros that do it over and over again. I see them ever now and then but I am not like them; I'm normal with a body that gets tired. But I will never forget this saga. It has changed me, but not to the point that I can't return to my former life, unlike Frodo. I anxiously look forward to returning home.

To change the subject, Arnold Schwartznagger must have been talking about the teenage boys of Japan when he used the term girly man. There is a scary trend of boys getting facial makeovers making them look like girly men in my humble opinion. Their hair is often tinted and then jellied so that it can be messed up to give the appearance of an anime character. Their eyebrows are plucked and foundation is applied to get their face looking more perfect than any girl that I've dated. In America their efforts would only attract other guys, but in Japan the girls think it's cool; I think. It's so onna rashii to me. Then what do I know? I'm not a female. But I can't imagine the male icons of Hollywood doing what these boys, and some men, do to themselves. Can you imagine Bogart, Newman, Redford, etc with plucked eyebrows, foundation, etc? I can't. I guess that I'm just old school, although maybe I shouldn't be. I need all the help that I can get. So if you happen to see me looking different, better(?), well I changed my mind and decided to join this beautification program of the male species. If Jake Shimabukoro can do it, why not me?

October 12 - Matsuyama, Day 2

Matsuyama day 2

The day started of in a rather blah way. Matsuyama is a city and here you are just one of the many. Typical city life I thought. Worst was going to temple 51, Ishiteji. It is for me an arcade of a temple, crowded, tacky, noisy, and commercial. Couldn't wait to leave it behind but couldn't get away soon enough to miss the most disgusting sight of a bunch of guys (They weren't even kids, as if that's a reason to be stupid.) ringing the temple bell as if they were swinging the mallet to ring the bell at a carnival.

But later the tenor of the day started to change. First a lady stopped her car, got out and asked us if we were walking henro and when we replied yes, she gave us 500 yen for drinks and got back in her car to drive off. It's not as if we look homeless or anything. It is her way of saying thank you for doing our work. It is common for people to say, “Gokuro san desu.” It means thank you for doing what you are doing, being a henro, being on a pilgrimage.

Then later on we stopped at a taikai (It's an event to celebrate Japan's national holiday to emphasize physical conditioning, Kenko no hi.) because we wanted to rest and more importantly eat a shave ice. While getting our treats a man sitting on a bench came over to me to tell me that Emi and I could sit on the same bench. To give us room he moved himself to sit on the curb. What a nice guy. So while we were eating our aisu (ice) the woman who sold it to us came over to take my aisu back for another ladle full of strawberry syrup. She had noticed that I did not put enough on; this was a "do it yourself" flavoring. Lastly a man came over to talk to us. I think he had noticed that we were different, and we are. It was a nice conversation...he said that he had a student from Oregon do a homestay at his home. At the end he gave his grandchild some money to give to us as osettai (gift). Lastly he and his family walked with us to the beginning of the trail to make sure we were going the right direction. Emi and I are constantly touched by how nice the people are. Can, is Americans as nice? I think we can be, but it doesn't happen for whatever reason. I hope I can do a random act of kindness at least once a day. Wouldn't that be nice?

Octoer 11

October 11

Today we walked up to Temple 44, Daihoji, and 45 Iwayaji. It was sort of one big loop and so we came back to where we started. Because of this we could leave our stuff at the ryokan that we are staying at for 2 nights. We are now on ground that we had covered before, but most of the route seemed completely new to me. The one place that both Emi and I remembered was a long grade on the road. We both remembered how tired we were when we were last there. All in all it was a fairly easy day. We drenched our clothes in sweat as usual but we only walked 15 miles and without our packs. It was still no stroll through the park. We got back before 3pm, and now have time to relax (?). That would be a novel idea.

Some days ago we ran into another tunnel walking path; it's the no path path. There was only a narrow shoulder, some 18 inches wide or should I say narrow, without a line or anything. Only faith and good luck separated you from life or death. You know; I used to hate tunnels. It's a soft spot in my psychology. Tunnels activate my anxiety, neurosis, and imagination, but here in Japan I'm beginning to like tunnels even though it's going to collapse and bury us alive. I now like tunnels because it means I'm not going to have to climb over the friggin' mountain. I like tunnels because it keeps me out of the hot friggin' sun. I like tunnels because it keeps me out of the ever friggin' rain. See, even a psychotic can change given adequate incentives.

We have developed another group of henro friends. The first group was with us for a couple of weeks and then they all passed us or dropped out, or maybe we left them behind (ha ha). This new group has been with us for some weeks. Since we don't always know their names, we have named them ourselves. There is cap man, Kyoto man, cart man, architect man, and the young guy. We actually learned Kyoto man's name; his name is Nakao san. He's a real nice guy and he's always giving us advice. Unfortunately he will not be completing the walk at this time. In a few days he will be going back home. Parting is such sweet sorrow.

Even though I say the walk is not about the temples, there are times when a certain temple or a particular time, or a special situation will make the moment there magical. One year we were at the only temple built on a field of rocks. This unique setting makes the temple a bit more beautiful than most. It was early morning and we were the only ones there. The quiet was broken only by the sound of a bird or two. They didn't interrupt the sense of peace that I felt being there. This year the grounds were jammed with bus henros and no peace was in my heart. And today, while it was still early morning foggy, we walked into Daihoji. It was so still you could hear the fog swirl in the air. Exotic scenes shrouded in nature's veil it made me feel as if I was in a strange land...and I was. Ringing the bell only caused a ripple in the white mist but did nothing to interrupt the quiet solitude and peaceful feeling in our hearts.

Octoer 9

October 9

Records are made to be broken and we broke ours today. We walked 23.1 miles, up and down, up and down, up and down in the Nouso Pass. At least it wasn't raining but it did take 10 hours. No temples today. The weather was actually nice if you weren't in the sun, carrying a pack, or walking up hill. Tonight we are staying in Kumakogen at a ryokan that we stayed at some years ago. We liked it then, and it is still nice. We have our own floor with our own bathroom and washing machine. The proprietor is so nice. When Emi told her that we had stayed there before she remembered us and said that she still had our calling card, the one with our picture and the Golden Gate Bridge in the background.


There was one scene today that was disturbing for me, and I don't even know if it was in a good or bad way. We passed an elderly small frail looking woman who was on her knees alongside the road, her walker parked next to her. Here she was, alone, sitting in the sun, and what do you think she was doing? She was weeding the plants that were growing along the curbing that separated the walking area from the road, the public area. You could try to fill in the blanks: Why was she there? Did she have to do this? Was she getting paid? Does she do this everyday? What? Why? Who? How? I didn't know if I should have been happy or sad for her. Though she didn't see us coming, her head literally buried into her work, I made it a point to say konnichiwa. It was all that I could do.

During the lunch period we were passing through a small town. Crossing over a bridge I noticed the man in a wheelchair fishing even though the stream was some 50 feet down. Exercise in futility I thought to myself, but I guess that's what you do in a small town.. Across the bridge a small corner building had a sign saying udon. So I told Emi that we should eat. The couple running the “store” was nice; I think but things could have been better. The place was a mess, and when Emi went upstairs to use the toilet she said it was even worse up there. They took forever to make the udon, 15 plus minutes, and when it finally came it was just udon in hot water with a bowl off to the side with some shoyu and ginger in it. And for all of this they charged 500 yen each. This is the only time when we felt overcharged. Further, it was her personal goal to send all the henros in one direction even though they wanted to go up the easier path, the one that she said was not the true path of Kobodaishi. The shocker was that she took in guests at her place. The thought of staying there makes my skin crawl, and she's in the henro michi guide book. Oh yeah, that man in the wheelchair came by when we were there and they showed us the fishes that he had caught that day. Amazing.

October 8

October 8

Our new standard is now 17 plus miles, so today we walked 19.7 miles, and tomorrow is going to be longer. Can you believe that? It started of so nice but. It was actually foggy. At one point we were cruising down grade with a cool breeze in our face and clouds in the sky, like it was almost fun. Then came the afternoon. The clouds disappeared and the temperature climbed. It was back to watching my feet move one step at a time. The last couple of hours was a living hell. My only hope was that if I kept moving at some point it would be over. It was so pathetic on that horrendous rainy day for I had that sinking feeling after the second hour. Can you believe that too?

The other group of henro besides the young guys are the old guys, like me, but they're tough, unlike me. To show how tough they are, one guy fell early on but he's still moving forward, a slight limp hampering him. This other guy (younger) got blisters, got sick, but is still continuing. The long rainy day made his blisters act up and it's now bleeding and is he stopping like any sane man would. No, he's still going on. And then there's our Dave who's as tough as any of those guys. But even though they pass Emi and I as if we're on a stroll, somehow we keep up with them, barely. We are staying with a fellow henro at our ryokon, and he is one of the faster guys, yet he came in after us and he said that he's tired. I thought those guys were immune to fatigue. I guess they're human after all.

You know, you can talk to fellow henros about a lot of things, but asking why they're doing the walk is not cool. It's like asking, “How are you?” to a patient in a hospital which is a real no no to me. While I was first working in a hospital, I would throw out that question like free lollipops until one day a patient told me how she really felt. “I'm dying,” she blurted out like a cry for help. I can't remember what I said. I think that I held her hand and stayed a while. I never asked that question again. Well henros can have different reasons for walking; for their well being, for someone else's well being, for a pending divorce, for a recent death, etc, etc, etc. The younger guys are questioning the far future. The older guys are concerned about the near future.

A word about the language: I took a number of Japanese language classes, and they did not teach me the real language. The people here don't speak like the text books that I have. For example a lady said to us as we were passing her, “Ame botchi botchi fute ru.” All I ever learned was, “Ame ga furimasu.” It's raining. She's saying rain, off and on, now and then, falling is. Further there are different verb tenses and short cuts, ru instead of iru, and fute instead of furimasu. Further there is a certain politeness that dictates the language. For example, one day Emi and I had just stumbled out of a mountain trail into a auto repair shop next to the road. We must have looked like hell, because a lady driver who was just pulling out stopped to ask if we were daijobu (OK). We said yes and it ended there. It was her way of offering us a ride. We would have had to say something like chotto (a bit) or taihen ( really something), and then she would have offered the ride. These are the thing that you don't learn in a classroom.

October 6

October 6

Didn't write yesterday. Not much to say. We were in the mountains for a long time and the only food we had was one day old musubi. Of course we ate them, if we only had more. Once we got out of the mountain trail we were so tired, mainly from yesterday's walk in the rain, that we caught the bus into the city, Uwajima. (You can ding me for the 5 miles we rode instead of walked but we had to walk some 2 miles extra for other reasons; so there.) It still was a long day.

Today we walked some 18 miles. Emi lied to me; she said it was going to be an easy 15 mile walk, but it wasn't. We had to walk over 2 and a half mountains. We walked from 7:30 to 4:30, way too long for me. For lunch we were in the hills so all we had was a very small bag of jellybeans. You can't imagine how good jellybeans can taste. By the time we could find real food it was 2pm and all we could buy was a CC Lemon, pistachios, two bread rolls, and a large nashi (pear/apple). But our hotel is really cool; thank goodness for the good things.

The day ended at a temple. While we where, they were 2 other friend henros. When we left, there was some discussion among all of us (except me) on the best route; we were going to be in the mountains for the third time and didn't want to go the wrong way. An elderly man that just happened to be there offered to guide us. He walks over the mountain every day to drink at a special well and knew the route by heart. He said that if you took the wrong turn that you would be in the mountains for a very long time, and I didn't want to do that. Thus a group of 4 henros followed him and in a relatively short time we were out of the mountains and in the city of Uwa where our hotel, Uwa Park Hotel, is located. The final destination of the day.

October 5

October 5

The walks just keep getting longer. We walked 22 miles today...in the rain, for the entire time. We were going to walk a large section in the mountains on a trail, but the rain changed our plans. The rains turn trails into creeks and the thought of trekking hours in a slippery creek didn't thrill us as if I liked root canals. Further, one slip and we would be going home early or worst to the hospital. Consequently we walked on 56 the entire time. You remember 56? The two lane blacktop that disguises as a freeway? All our fellow henro companions also chose to walk the road than negotiate the narrow dirt trail and they're tough. It was so nice and charming how one particular henro advised us. Being Japanese and thus polite he didn't simply say, “You'd be nuts to walk in the mountains on a day like this. Your alphabet is complete isn't it?” Instead he said and I paraphrase, “I'm going to walk on 56 because of the rains. The mountain roads are going to be narrow, wet, dangerous, but. You don't have to decide at this moment. When you get to 56 you can make up your mind.” We're glad to have followed his kind and polite words even if it added more miles to the trip. Funny, mid trip it was past time to eat and we all stopped at the same place. At the end of the day the first hotel that we were going to stay at looked rather shabby so we opted to walk another half a mile to the next lodgings. It turned out to be an “onsen” and so we eagerly collapsed there. It is a bit more expensive but well worth it. We immediately peeled off our wet clothes and went into the furo. We were the only ones in the sex segregated baths. It was so nice, but you can only stay in for so long or you'd be cooked to a beet red color. When we returned to our rooms I can't remember what happened except that Emi said that I was snoring loud enough to disturb the neighbors.

And to think that this record breaking day started with a breakfast that consisted of a pile of dried small fishes, natto (fermented beans that most sane people will pass up), a raw egg, miso soup, ume and two slices of takuan, nori (dried seaweed), and rice. It was so pathetic that it was like a bad omen for the coming day and it was.

A word about Japanese TV shows; they can be pretty strange at times. For example they have a show where well known people tell a personal story of woe. The point is to get a panel of other well known celebs to cry. And then we watched another show where the point is to cry again. In this one a champion wrestler tells all Japan how his father was so mean to him, to the point of physical abuse, and yet there was always a kindly neighborhood man that would comfort him. The show went on and on in this vane when the “panel” pushes a button as if they are voting. I go crazy with imagination. Are they really voting? And if they are what are they voting about? Should the boy have run away or kill his father? Or were they voting if the mother was at fault? Was the boy deserving of the beatings? Ad infinitum. I'll never know. But what I do know is that they kept talking about the kindly man, and they even sent out an investigator to find him. At the end of the show they had a mysterious guest behind a closed door. Was it the kindly old man? Commercial break. Then the door opens and it is the son holding a picture of his deceased father. The champion wrestler falls to the ground crying. Everyone is crying. Even I can't help but shed a tear. Talk about tear jerker. And then there is this other show where 2 grown men wear tutus and make up. No big deal there, but coming out from between their legs is a duck head with a neck about 4 feet long. They dance around in a manner that leaves nothing to the imagination and if you lack imagination there is one bit that I have to describe. They push the springy heads back between their legs and then allow them to spring forward like and x-rated jack-in-the-box. Everyone laughs, even the kids on the stage. Go figure.