146 km; 6hr 8min; (23.8km/h) Temples 41-45
This was the fastest, longest, highest finish of a stage of my meguri, and certainly one of the most memorable and enjoyable, I couldn't believe it gets better! Also feeling great after a days rest, really appreciate it today.
Earliest start, I'm well into the camping mode now waking at sunrise and packed up and on the road at 5:40am. Already bright and almost immediately remove the rain jacket as its just too warm. More nice coastal scenery early on then we head inland towards the first temple of the day, Ryukoji.
If you're cycling and following the henro foot signs, it sometimes pays off but after Ryukoji the henro path leads me into smaller and smaller streets until the path disappears up a narrow set of steps around a small reservoir. On this occasion it was easy to follow my nose and sure enough there were more roads built around the south of the reservoir. There's always another side road in Japan.
The side road leads me on to temple 42, Butsumokuji. This is the only other temple on the meguri apart from temple 1 that sells the English guide book to the 88 temples, so I buy a copy from the monk in the Nokyo, he speaks fluent English. Also he is the nephew of the author of the book, Taisen Miyata san, so theres a good reason why the book is on sale at this temple. The author is currently at the Koyasan Buddhist temple, 342 East First Street, Los Angeles and his nephew has spent time at the temple in LA as well. So now I finally have some info on the temples! There has been almost nothing in English so far, but thats not surprising at all as we are in Japan. So I advise sorting out your guidebooks before heading out to the island if you can.
The descent down to Ozu after a long tunnel on route 56 is my fastest speed on Shikoku. Mostly straight with wide, sweeping bends. Only 63.7kph due to wind resistance on my city bike, but it feels fast enough for me.
With the Koinoburi flying high in my direction, the strong tail wind takes me quickly into the mountains along fantastic roads rising very gradually up to temple 45, Iwayaji. This is the first temple I arrive at out of order, as by road it makes more sense to visit 45 then 44 on the way down to Matsumoto. You can do the temples in any order you like, and of course it needn't be all in one go. Many people take several years to complete the meguri, breaking the journey up into achievable sections.
One henro I met today has been waiting 20 years to take the pilgrimage. He is perhaps the most common walking henro, retired men who are generally very fit. He worked for NEC and lived in Ghana for a number of years. The other type of henro is the young hippy, not so many of them but they camp out every night of the pilgrimage. The young henro I met today had walked many places including the European pilgrimage of SaintIago de Compostella, from France to northern Spain.
Iwayaji is one of the most memorable temples on Shikoku. Its a long hike from the car park, at least 20-20mins on an attractive forest path which has steep steps in sections and many jizu and buddha statues along the way. The temple name means "rocky cave" due to the temple being set at the foot of a cliff with caves dug out in the soft rock. One cave is around 30m long as has a small shrine at the end.
Tonights accommodation is once again, beside a great onsen - even if its in a large hotel this time. The camp ground is a shelter beside the hotel shared with 4 other henro. However, I can't fully know if these guys (apart from Fukao san, aka Nakata) are permanent henro or just homeless. One has travelled around Shikoku 21 times, by foot, bicycle and motorbike. Some cheap sake appears and I wonder if my head will feel like another 5:40am start the next day, but we all enjoy a good drink and retire to our tents at a good hour.
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