Henro Day 10 & 11- No food, great food, and 500 ways to survive a Tsunami

​For days 10 & 11 we walked another 34 miles bringing up the total distance to just under 192 miles.  Mainly just following the coast passing through some small villages along the way.  The dinners have always included fresh sashimi which is probably some of the best I’ve ever had.  If I were to order this at a restaurant at home, it would’ve cost 10x the price.  Some meals are amazing, and others are straight out of a convenience store.  There are times lunch isn’t even an option at all when you realize the town you’re passing through doesn’t have a single place to buy food.  I’ve learned to keep a supply of Japanese protein bars which I’m slowly getting tired of.  Liquids seem to always be in abundance with the vending machines everywhere you look.

We crossed paths again with a fellow pilgrim from earlier back (who told me her name a couple times 😳)  

As she was one of the few locals walking the Henro who spoke English, we enjoyed a couple hours of good conversation learning about Japanese traditions, life, and culture.  When we arrived at temple 24, we wished her well as this was her last stop for this trip.  Most of the people I have met earlier on were only doing the first 20 temples or so.  

I feel like when I get home, I’m going to be inspired to make improvements to our rooflines.

Temples….. and more temples.  

The Japanese really plan ahead for their tsunamis.  They have lifeboats randomly sitting on land to be prepared. Additionally, I have passed at least 500 tsunami evacuation points along the way.

Small concrete projects don’t need a mixer.

I’ve been saying over and over- why don’t they have vending machines with food.  Finally!!

I’d like to hope that it will.  Not sure some days.

Henro Day 9- Rainy Miles along the Pacific Coast

For the 9th day walking the Henro, I spent the entire day under an umbrella dodging puddles for a little under 18 miles.  My total distance so far is up to 157.9 miles.  On my right side was steep mountain peaks, and the left was the coast.  Although rainy, it was very beautiful.  When we finally got settled in for the evening, I got notification that there was a tsunami warning with a major earthquake in the northern part of Japan.  All seems good here, although the better part of my day today was spent thinking about all the efforts and systems in place Japan has put into their sea walls and infrastructure.  I didn’t document this well, but you see it everywhere.  

Due to Japan’s location in relation to the ring of fire,  they have more tsunamis than any other country in the world. 

On accommodation here was incredible.  Nothing fancy but really lovely people.  Definitely a highlight.

The raincoat gets annoying as you start sweating quickly.  I’ve decided that I prefer an umbrella and fresh air.  

This worm was around 1 foot long.

I wasn’t hungry but this machine was pretty cool.  If I see another one, I’ll definitely try it out.

This is my second night in the same accommodation with this guy.  He walks some and take the bus some, but heck, he’s 81 and out here on an adventure. 

Henro Day 8- The Coastline to Temple 24

​The distance between temple 23 and 24 is around 75 kilometers.  The path continues south along the east side of this island heading towards Muroto.  Today was my first day walking solo as Philip decided to take a rest day and just take the train to the next stop.  I walked just under 25 miles putting the total distance up to 140.01 miles (224k)

Here they make their logs out of concrete as well.  I had to really look closely to even notice, but they seem to hold up well.

I could only assume this is someone’s residence 

All along this coast, I’m seeing these big concrete walls and flood gates cutting across roads and river openings. At first it feels a little over the top… but after looking closer, I realized it’s not. This part of Shikoku sits right along the Nankai Trough, where big earthquakes can send water moving fast. These gates are there to shut things off and slow it down, buying people time to get to higher ground.

If you look closely, you will see that part of my trail eroded and fell to the ocean 

These little arrows are what I spend a lot of my day looking for.  Sometimes they’re obvious, and many times they’re not very well placed.  The app with gps is almost a must unless you want to walk a few hundred extra miles 

Henro Day 7- Temple 22-23

​Total distance walked 115.22 miles 

For my 7th day of my pilgrimage around the Island of Shikoku, I woke up at 5 am which was the longest night sleep I’ve had in years. (9.25 hours)  My accommodation near Temple 22 was the first place I’ve stayed which wasn’t as well kept and there was clutter everywhere.  I found it interesting that it was here, I slept so well.  

If you don’t include the 4 tunnels I walked through today, the first 10 of the 17 miles walked today was very wet.  I picked up an umbrella and quite enjoyed the rain.  Somewhere around mile 11, I came around the corner to find the ocean for the first time along my journey.  The sun came out as I followed the coast for the 2nd half of my day.

Every day I spend a little time examining the quality of their concrete work.  The infrastructure for retaining walls and irrigation ditches is very extensive and impressive.  I feel like their concrete seems to be holding up to time better than what I see in the United States.  I’ll keep doing my research, because I know you’re all on the edge of your chair with this thought.

I’ve heard some people make money selling pictures of their feet.  Please don’t attempt to do this with this beauty.  Looking at the picture below, you might think my feet are pretty beat up.  To be honest, they’re actually holding up quite well.  When I get a hot spot, I immediately put some tape on it before it becomes a bigger problem.  Currently I am blister free 

And yes, I made it to a temple today too. 🙂

Henro Day 6- Temple 20-22

​On day 6 of walking, We covered 17.11 miles with 4529’ of elevation gain.  Upon arriving at the top of Temple 21, we saw there was a cable car coming up from the other side.  As an option, although it increased the distance for the day, we opted to ride the cable car down and then hike around to catch back up with our path.  The experience was amazing and views were spectacular.

All along the way, they have funky shelters for the pilgrims to rest along the way.  

The gardens and areas around the temple are so well kept.  I wish the pictures did a better job showing how beautiful they really are.

I almost stepped on this guy along the trail today.  He didn’t seemed bothered by me one bit.

Yong is actually a Chinese Pilgrim.  We bonded over Da Shu’  (The Big Tree)

Our host and crew as we started our day.  Tom decided to scale his distance back with the amount of elevation gain for the day.  

Henro Day 5: Professional Walker, Amateur Toilet Operator

​From the start of my adventure, we started walking away from a fairly large city (Tokushima), only to loop back around and come back in from the other side. Today we covered a little over 22 miles putting us at a total distance of 81 miles.  Most of the day was walking out of the busiest part of the city which wasn’t all that exciting.  Today we passed by temple 18 and 19 finishing the day a little short of temple 20.  

Just in case you forgot where you are, they’ve included a tiny motivational toilet. 

A little porcelain life coach reminding you to stay focused, you came here for a reason.

Why move the car when you can just move the car wash.  Interesting thought I guess 

It’s not a great photo, but this is only a fraction of the turtles there and it was funny to watch them jockey for space.  

I walked by this dealer which sells small RVs.  By the time I had gotten too far to go back, I realized this picture wasn’t very good without me in it.  If I would’ve given you the reference, you would’ve seen this vehicle wasn’t much taller than I am.  

Sometimes I feel like people go through life blindly and don’t stop or think about the things around them.  Can anybody take a guess at what I found interesting about this photo?

I haven’t seen one homeless person, or really seen any actual liquor stores, but there are options here

That statue is Kūkai, also known as Kōbō Daishi  the spiritual figure I’m “walking with” on the Shikoku Henro.

My picture doesn’t show it and it’s probably hard to see unless you zoom in close, but that track goes all the way up the hill and it’s a little motorized cog rail/cart to move materials around.  

This was the only day so far, where I have walked through a very busy part of a city. Nothing exciting to see here, but it was part of the adventure to share.