Mystery and History
Want to know a sure fire way to get your blood pumping and calves burning first thing in the morning? Step out the front doors of your lodging and walk part of the original (we’re talking 16th century) 88 Temples path. Don’t take the tunnel that’s right next to the path because that would be easy.
Good arguments were made for taking both options. The tunnel would save us time. The original path would offer mystery as well as history. To decide we did the most adult thing we could think of. We flipped a coin.
Seconds later with pounding hearts and heaving breaths we were ascending a steep dirt path through tall ancient tress. Thirty minutes after, we reached the plateau. The sound of crashing waves could be heard beneath us. What goes up must come down and the trail down was just as steep. As the waves grew louder we had to physically move overgrown branches out of our way. Was this still the path? Did we make a wrong turn? Then a light at the end of a different tunnel. We exited to the most beautiful beach. Waters shimmering in the morning sun. Suppose this trail is only doable if the tide is in your favor as it was this morning. We crossed the beach to rejoin the road.
Once on the main path we glanced back to get our bearings. The tunnel we flipped a coin for was only a few feet behind us. It was so short you could see straight through to the other side where we started. Had the coin landed the other way we would crossed in five minutes, yet here we were over an hour later. Slowly we are learning that our decisions may create more effort for us, but they also offer more reward.
A few kilometers later a kind farmer working his field greeted us with a bag containing two sweet breads. There were no stores in site. Did he offer us the rolls he was going to eat himself? He told us he was working on the piping for his field. I inquired gohan then rice. He repeated rice excitedly. He knew that word was the word he had been trying to communicate and we finally understood. His smile said it all. After saying goodbye we reached a henro hut facing the ocean. There we ate his rolls while a naked man sunbathed himself to our far left. Like our perfectly baked goods, the guy was also had good color.
We stopped again at the drug store for errands and then a grocery store for lunch. With about 12 kilometers walked in the last 5 hours we are officially the worlds slowest pilgrims.
With no nature trail options this afternoon, walking busy Route 55 was mandatory. However the seaside scenery was beautiful making this stretch of Kochi prefecture popular among surfers. Hot and thirsty we stopped at a 7/11 where we saw the young Japanese pilgrim who had strewn his wet belonging all over Hiwasa station a few days before. Actually we saw his bags before we saw him.
Arriving at Shirahama Camping Ground about 20 minutes before the office closed we secured our overnight stop. There were options as again we are the only campers. Eating our dinner at a table facing the ocean made today another “best day yet”.
April 19, 2016 - No temple
