Sunday 25 March 2018

Beginnings

Tuesday morning we catch the bus from Namba bus terminal to Tokushima. An accident on the Expressway out of Osaka means we sit for an hour in traffic out the outskirts of the city but finally we find ourselves gazing down at the whirlpools that swirl under the Great Naruto Bridge which connects Shikoku to Honshu via Awaji-shima Island. The bus deposits us at a parking area above Bando town, the location of the first temple, Ryozenji. It has started raining and it is - surprisingly for the end of March - freezing cold. Today we need to buy our pilgrim attire – clothes which will mark us out as pilgrims and - more importantly perhaps - mark our transition from tourists to pilgrims (henro) in our own minds. This means that I will have to stop swearing at Mick and be all calmness and serenity for the next 10 weeks or so and instead swear oaths of another kind – to not complain and accept that hardships we encounter on the route are part of our ascetic training or personal growth. Lets see how that works out…

Although there are shops at the first temple to buy these clothes, the last time we were here Mick particularly liked the jackets which were sold at Temple 6, Anrakuji, so we decide to head there, stay overnight and return to Ryozenji in the morning to start our walk. This involves a short train and bus journey, but we had done it before so didn’t think it would be a problem. But at Bando station we watch in dismay from the wrong platform as the train pulls in and out again. Dejected, we plod over the to the correct platform and wait half an hour for the next train.

At Itano we need to change to a bus but when we leave the station in the pouring rain we cannot see the bus stop anywhere. We ask someone and he suggests a taxi but we are reluctant to give in. We are already feeling fed up. This was not how we imagined our first day.

Then a woman joins the conversation. She and the man talk together in Japanese and we can’t follow what they are saying but then she turns to us and says that there is no bus for a while. “Come to my house and have some tea and then I will drive you there.” She has two children with her and we demur at first, saying we don’t want to take up her time. She says it is no trouble. It turns out that Yuka and her children live in Kamkura and that her husband is from Kent and they are here visiting her folks. After tea and biscuits Yuka and her daughter walk us over to the bus stop which is on the other side of the train station – we would never have found it – to show us where to get off when we return tomorrow to start our walk from Temple 1.

Yuka looks concerned when she drops us at the carpark at Temple 6. The rain is belting down now. There is a large shelter here which we knew about before and which is perfect for camping. We assure her that we will be fine and wave as they drive away. Her kindness has cheered us up immensely and reminds us that this is one of the reasons we have returned to walk this walk, this so difficult walk, for a second time. We set up camp and settle down for the night under the shelter, glad we are not camping outside as the rain continues to pour down outside.


Shelter near Temple 6


The following morning we return to Temple 1. It is still raining but we must get started. We visit Temples 1, 2 and 3 and at each one we light a candle each and three sticks of incense and place a nameslip and donation in the box. We reach Temple 4 and I suddenly realise that I no longer have the camera with me. We retrace our steps back a kilometre to a rest hut to retrieve it. By the time we have visited Temple 5 it is getting dark. It is still raining and we are relieved to return to our carpark shelter at Temple 6 for a second night.

At shop at Temple 1, Ryozenji




A wet start


At Ryozenji, Temple 1

Konsenji, Temple 3


Thursday is a little better, showers rather than constant rain as we cross the plain which divides the two mountain ranges to the north and south.


At Jurakuji, Temple 7
























We stop at the little Udon-ya opposite Temple 9, Horinji, at lunchtime. The woman who runs it looks like she has been serving udon to pilgrims here since forever. The udon comes in a large bamboo bowl for us to dish out ourselves and is delicious.


Happy face after udon


Udon-ya at Temple 9, Horinji
Tonight we are hoping to stay at free lodgings at Kamonoyu onsen (Japanese hot bath), not too far from Temple 11. We spend too long in McDonalds chatting to three curious schoolchildren and by the time we arrive at 8pm the accommodation is full. However the woman at the onsen tells us we are welcome to sleep in the carpark provided we are out of the way of cars manoeuvering in the dark. This sounded good to us too, so we set up the tent in a corner near the hedge and head into the onsen for a much needed wash and hot soak.

In the morning the rain has passed and although the night had been bitterly cold, today dawns bright with not a cloud in the sharp blue sky. It is half past six and the other pilgrims are getting up and preparing to depart. The next temple, Shosanji, is situated high in the mountains at over 700 metres and not only that, to get there you have to climb two other peaks of 600 and 700 metres before reaching the temple on the third peak. Carrying 10kg backpacks we knew this would take us all day and with the temperatures being so low we wanted to descend the other side before setting up camp for the night rather than end up camping high in the mountain. An early start is essential.

I turn over and go back to sleep.

An hour later we get up and make a coffee on our little stove, warming our numb cold fingers on the metal cups of hot liquid. Finally, we make the journey to Temple 11, Fujiidera, set into the foot of the mountains. A coach party of pilgrims arrive while we are there, the first of the day. Among them is the head monk from Temple 51 at Matsuyama and he asks us to stay at his accommodation in the temple when we get there. We say that we will.

The trail to Temple 12 leaves from the back of Fujiidera. A fit looking Japanese man joins us. I try and guess his age, I reckon he is about 65, but he clearly thinks nothing of the climb. He tells us he is training for a walk in Nepal by climbing this mountain every day. He soon leaves us behind as we plod up the hill carrying our heavy packs.

The trail from Fujiidera


Exchanging details with another pilgrim


Delightful walking through the forest 
A welcome flat section...

We come across him a couple of hours later. He is sitting on a log in a clearing, cooking food in a frying pan. It is all organic vegetarian food from his own farm he tells us. He is joined by a couple of friends, a man and a woman of a similar age. We sit down and they share their fruit with us. It is delicious. ‘This is the kudzu lounge,’ he tells us, pointing to a sign behind us. (Kudzu is the vine that grows here, he explained.)

Cooking up at the kudzu lounge



We could have lounged there for another hour but now time is, of course, against us. The path takes us relentlessly up and down again

The final climb is the hardest, or so it feels, the last of six henro korogashi or ‘pilgrim fall down’ sections and it is with a sense of achievement that we finally reach the lantern-lined path into the temple. It is quiet here and the sound of our feet crunching on the gravel as we walk around the grounds echoes and rebounds.

The views across the mountains are magnificent, a series of green, pine covered peaks and away in the distance, Tokushima and the sea. It has been an exhausting climb but we are gratified when a man from a group of Western tourists who we had spoken to a while back tells us he is impressed with our level of fitness in climbing up here with our heavy packs. Maybe we are capable of doing this walk after all.

Arriving at Shosanji, Temple 12

Initially, going down is not as pleasant at it could have been - it is so steep my toes are crushed painfully against the front of my boots. We decide to revert to the winding but slightly less steep road rather than stay on the steeper forest trails and as we near the bottom the gradient becomes shallower and easier on the feet.

We are heading for another onsen, about 8km father along the road. By the time we arrive, once again we are walking in the dark and it is late, around 7.45. The onsen has a sign on the door saying they close at 8.00. There will be no hot bath this evening. We try to remember our pilgrim oath not to complain when things don’t go our way but we are British and it isn’t easy. Complaining is what we do, after all, it’s how we roll. In truth we know it was our own fault. Tomorrow, we vow, we will get up early.

We camp in the park opposite the onsen. We are next to a river and still 150 metres above sea level. The night is the coldest yet and we shiver all night in our summer sleeping bags. In the morning a frost covers the grass and wooden benches when we blearily come round and make a coffee at 06.30. Soon Mick is chattering away, something about James Bond and I beg him to be quiet for half an hour. To his credit he shuts up without further comment for a full 10 minutes.

The day is spent walking the 15km back into Tokushima . On the way, the cherry blossom is just coming into bloom and looks beautiful. We sit for a while, watching the cormorants spreading their wings and warming up in the morning sunlight. While we are there a car draws up and a man gets out and brings us two cans of cold drinks. 'Osettai' he says, bowing, before jumping back into his car and driving away. Osettai is one of the many fine things about this walk. Gifts from strangers which boost morale and give us a warm feeling inside. It is with renewed energy that we resume our walk alongside the highway.

Route 21 into Tokushima


Henro rest hut just before Dainichiji, Temple 13

We visit the 5 temples on the outskirts of the city, numbers 13 to 17.


Bell Tower at Temple 14, Jorakuji

By the time we reach the last one, Idoji, it is six o’clock and all the pilgrims have gone. There is a well here, the legend is that Kukai dug the well in one night with his staff and that if you make a wish on a specific day then that wish will come true. The guidebook doesn’t say which day though. I make a wish anyway.

The well at Idoji
We have walked for four days. After camping in a park overnight, in the morning of Day 5 we walk the last 5km into Tokushima. We have walked around 90km since we started out and today we intend today to have a rest.




Our route so far






























Preparation for Shikoku - kit list

I've just remembered that in a previous post I promised to post our kit list. Now I've written it down I am not sure that publishing it is a good idea (cue howls of laughter/derision...)

It seems like a very long list of stuff. Anyway here goes:


Joint kit

Tent - Hilleberg Rogen 2 person + footprint

Mick carrying footprint and tent
Ellie carrying poles and pegs

(People that know me will recall that as Mick and I have had a bumpy time recently I was determined to carry my own tent just in case we fall out. It was to be my insurance. Well, for better or for worse, he has talked me out of it and so we are, as originally planned, sharing the load of one two person tent between us.  Lets see how that works out.)


Mick

Osprey 68 litre rucksack
Sleeping bag - Yeti Vib250
Silk liner
Exped 50 Litre drysack
Thermarest Prolite bedmat extra small
Polystyrene bedroll
cheap cycle jacket (to be discarded as it gets warmer)
Montane windjammer jacket (VI Trail series)
Montbell trailhiker trousers with detachable legs
Montane Terra lightweight trousers
Steiner long sleeve silk baselayer
Mountain Warehouse medium weight t-shirt
Mountain Warehouse lightweight t-shirt
Montane Atomic shell lightweight over trousers
Sea to Summit Ultra Nanosil poncho
small travel towel
2 pairs hipster underpants (no buttons)
2 pairs Bridgedale light hiker socks
lightweight gloves
Mosquito headnet
Buff
Sunday Afternoons Adventure hat
Leki carbon walking poles
Salomon X-Alp shoes
Weirdfish flipflops

Sawyer Mini water filter kit
2 x 3 metres of 2mm cord + 12 small safety pins
Edelrid piranha lockknife (2 inch blade)
Henro bell and whistle on carabiner

Sea to Summit ultraseal 20 litre stuffsack (doubles as a pillow and a daysack)
Sea to Summit lightweight 13 litre bag
Expred drybag small yellow 5 litre
Montbell lightweight shoulderbag

Spanish phrasebook (to learn Spanish for the Camino, Mick's next walk)

Samsung S9+ smartphone.
USB charging lead
Suunto titamium Spartan Ultra ultra watch + mini USB charging lead
Synchwire 4 USB socket adapter plug
Lightweight headphones
Petzl e-lite mini headlight +2x CR2032 batteries
Lumo mini light

Soto triple mix gas 230g
Soto micro regulator stove (self-igniting)
MSR stabilising footrest
Montbell titanium lightweight mug (large)

indigestion tablets
diarrhoea tablets
Ibuprofen tablets
Ibuprofen gel 100g
Flucloxacillin BP 28 capsules
fine fishing line
tick remover
variafocal sun glasses
regular variafocal glasses
fabric glasses case
2 x razors
electronic  anti-histamine zapper
Incognito insect repellent 100ml
Nivea lipbalm
Repair tape
3 x micropur tape
Lightweight squeegee (for wiping down tent)
Magnesium tablets in small plastic pot
Dental floss
Toothpaste
Toothbrush
Wetwipes 25 pack


Passport
Money

Exped drybag small yellow













Ellie


Osprey 68 litre (short version) rucksack
Sleeping bag - Yeti VIB250 small
Exped 50 Litre drysack
Thermarest Prolite bedmat extra small
Polystyrene bedroll
Montbell lightweight rain jacket
Hooded sweatshirt (to be discarded as it gets warmer
Steiner longsleeve silk baselayer
Trespass summer walking trousers with detachable legs
Nike runners T-shirt (lightweight)
Standard T-shirt (medium weight)
Montbell lightweight over trousers
Exped poncho
small travel towel
2 pairs knickers
2 x bras
2 x pairs Bridgedale light hiker socks
Lightweight gloves
Mosquito headnet
Buff
Sunday Afternoons Adventure hat
Montbell carbon walking poles
Lowa Taurus GTX mid boots
Weirdfish flipflops

Sawyer Mini walter filter kit
1x 2 metres cord plus 8 s

Sea to Summit Nano 13 litre drysack
Exped small drybag 5 litre
Sea to Summit Ultra drybag 2 litre
Montbell lightweight shoulder bag
fabric bicycle clips for fastening trousers

Japanese Phrasebook
Shikoku 88 Temple Guidebook
Japanese Pilgrimage Oliver Statler (paperback)
Small notebook
2 x biro pens

Montbell aluminium mug
Sea to Summit titanium spork with long handle

Microsoft Surface Pro laptop
Felt laptop case
Olympus Tough TG-4 camera
Camera case and spare battery
Nokia 3310 retro phone (back up with long standby time)
USB charging leads x2
Laptop charging lead
4 socket usb charger plug
Petzl e+lite micro headlight
mini light + cell batteries
headphones

Incognito insect repellent 100ml
Coconut oil 50gm
Hypertension tablets
toothbrush
toothpaste
mini razor
compressible water bottle x 2

Variafoical sunglasses
foldaway reading glasses
ordinary reading glasses (may throw away)

Money
Passport
Name cards

Bag of coffee
Bag of tea







Lets see how much of this gets chucked along the way...




Monday 19 March 2018

A hiatus in Osaka


'A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step' 
Lao-Tsu

'A journey of a thousand miles begins with putting off the first step as long as possible' 
Ellie Bennett

Having flown from the other side of the world, and knowing that our two days in Hong Kong were likely to be hectic, we had already booked accommodation for two days in Osaka to recover before starting our walk but we are so tired that we decide to extend our stay a further two nights to make sure we are fully rested for our long walk around Shikoku.

We are staying in Boarding House, Osaka a hostel in the Tennoji area, south of central Osaka. The proprietor here is friendly; when we brought our bicycles with us in 2013 he was incredibly helpful, letting us assemble and disassemble the bikes in his premises and storing our large cycle bags and other items for three months while we went cycling round Shikoku for no charge at all.

As soon as we are all checked in we head to the local supermarket in search of some lovely Japanese food.

Mick is in his favourite supermarket


20% off

Half Price!
A short walk from the hostel is Shitenno-ji, the temple which gave the area its name. Shi means 'four' and Tenno means king; Shitenno-ji is the temple of four heavenly kings. Originally constructed in the year 593 at the request of Prince Shōtoku, this was one of the earliest Buddhist temples in Japan. On the way we visit Koshindo Temple, where there is a shrine to the three wise monkeys.


at Koshindo Temple

Choganji Temple







Shitenno-ji



5 Storey Pagoda


Lanterns at Shitenno-ji

Despite visiting Osaka several times now, I've never been to Nara, famed as Japan's first permanent capital city and known for its historical buildings. It is also only 35 minutes away from Tennoji by train so we decide to spend a day here. The journey goes smoothly (of course it does, this is Japan!!). We make our way first to the magnificent Todaji Temple. The main building here, the Daibutsuden, is the largest wooden building in the world and stepping through the enormous gateway, flanked on either side by Nio or  Kongo-rikishi, guardians of the temple, I feel very small. The Daibutsuden houses a bronze Buddha seated on huge lotus petals. The statue is a full 15 metres high. On either side and almost as large, are two Bodhisattvas. They are utterly stunning.



At the back of the hall is a wooden pillar with a hole in the base. Apparently, if you can squeeze through the hole you will be granted enlightenment in the next life. A queue of children and a few sporting adults wait to try it. The children slide easily through the hole, the adults have more trouble and many of them give up without really trying. One Western woman with a rather large backside steps up amid gasps and murmurs from the onlookers who clearly doubt whether she will make it through. It takes a few tugs from her partner but she manages it and smiles triumphantly at the crowd.
'Fancy a go?' asks Mick. 'After all you used to be a caver, you should be able to do it'.
'What about you?' I countered.
'Oh I've done it before,' he says breezily, adding 'mind you that was 15 years ago.'
I crouch down and look at the small hole. I could probably do it but the thought of getting stuck in there with all these onlookers doesn't appeal.  'I will do it at the end of my walk,' I say. 'I will be much thinner then. Hopefully'.

No problem for small children...
We spend the rest of the day wandering around the many temples and shrines which are scattered through Nara Park, keeping a wary eye on the deer. We had a bad experience with deer on the island of Miyajima once  - having left our lunch on the handlebars of our bicycles we returned to find the deer had eaten the lot - food, packaging, wooden chopsticks -everything. All that was left was a tell-tale sliver of plastic stuck to the side of the deer's face. Mick had not been happy. The deer here at Nara looked better fed however and there were lots of vendors selling biscuits for them. Our brochure claimed that 'the deer in this park are so polite that they bow to you when they ask you for Shika Senbei' (deer crackers). Hmm, I didn't see much bowing going on when I saw a dozen of them chasing a woman across the park for their Shika Senbei!



We visit Kasuga Taisha Shinto shrine, which we learn is the shrine responsible for the deer being in the park in the first place. According to the legend, when the shrine was founded, a god from Kashima Shrine came to Nara riding on a white deer and since then they have been protected as divine messengers.

Kasuga Taisha shrine




The path up to the shrine is lined with thousands of stone lanterns and the shrine itself is bedecked with hundreds more brass ones. The lanterns are lit twice a year for festivals which must be a pretty time consuming job in itself.


Lanterns on the path to Kasuga Taisha shrine
Nara deserves more than the day we were able to spare it and I hope we will be able to return after our walk on Shikoku.



No visit to Osaka would be complete without visiting our favourite little bar (izakaya) in Tennoji. Hidden behind the neon lights and the shopfronts near the station is a network of narrow backstreets, a little bit of old Tennoji. As usual we cannot find the place we are looking for and wander up and down the narrow streets. Just when we are about to give up and assume it has closed, we find we are standing outside it. A glass door slides open to reveal a narrow room crammed with people stood shoulder to shoulder at the counter. We are gratified to discover that the owner, a diminutive woman who rules the place with a rod of iron, remembers us. 'Two years ago?' she asks.
'Four' we reply, and she shakes her head disbelievingly. How time flies!

Hidden backstreets in Tennoji




Our favourite bar
We shuffle in and take our places at a small space at the bar. The owner clearly remembers that our Japanese is poor and brings a picture menu. This time Mick is not tempted by the Hell Tofu, tofu laced with chilli, after which he suffered greatly the last time we were here.


Hell Tofu

Remove waste products it most certainly did. Perhaps we should go for 'a chicken strangled in the morning' instead.

Every now and again more people arrive and our host yells at her customers to move up and we all obediently shuffle down the bar. It is impossible not to talk to your neighbour in a place like this and we have an enjoyable evening chatting to some of the locals despite our limited Japanese.



But now our four days rest have come to an end and there's no delaying it any further. Tomorrow morning, Tuesday 20th March, we catch the bus to Shikoku and start our walk around the island. And it has started raining.