We reached Ryozen temple at around 2.30pm on April 9th,1 day ahead of schedule. We got our Henro gear sorted. Henro are the people who do the pilgrimage. In past times people would complete the whole 1400 km length on foot,but today there are a variety of ways employed. Some people even complete it in parts over several weeks, months or even years.
we went into Ryozen Ji,in our gear, and said our prayers and we were off!We walked to Gokuraku and Konzen Ji, 2 and 3 respectively and then decided to call it a day. We couldn't find a camp ground or anything and so set up the tent in a shrine.I am not sure that we slept very well as we were up at 6am the next day and arrived at Dainichi Ji (Big day temple,no 4) around 7am,April 1oth. We said our prayers and also brushed our teeth,since the shrine had been lacking in the basic amenities.We were lucky in having another beautiful day and walked to Jizou Ji (5), Anraku Ji (6) and Jyuraku Ji (7), a total of 12.5km by late morning.At Jyuraku Ji,we decided to test our luck and asked for a ride to Kumadani Ji (8). We struck gold, we met Ikematsu San and her friend Yamaguchi San. Ikematsu San had completed the pilgrimage by car before and Yamaguchi San was just starting,and they were going to 11 that day and before we knew it, so were we!
In between driving us to Kumadani(8),Hourin Ji(9),Kirihata Ji(10) and Fushii Ji(11)we shared lunch by a small lake,ate mikan under the cherry blossoms and generally had a great time. We told our new friends that the next day,Saturday, we planned to go to the vine bridge by train and then pick up on the pilgrimage again. At the end of the day Ikematsu San dropped us off at an onsen and said she would come back in an hour. At this point we were not quite sure what was going on,but were just so happy to be at an onsen with the prospect of getting clean. So we got out of the onsen and Ikematsu San had returned with her husband and her grandson Atsuki. She had arranged with her husband, that they would drive us to the vine bridge the next day,as their grandson hadn't been there!They then preceded to buy us dinner and ply us with food! We camped in a park down the road from the onsen and waited for the morning to arrive.I think Betsy must have been a hit with Atsuki,he asked if he could camp with us.
Saturday,April 11th. The Ikematsu's picked us up at 8am and off we went. Poor Atsuki was sat in the back between me and Betsy. I am not sure what the poor boy thought of having to spend the whole day in an English lesson, but he was a great kid and really well behaved.So off we went to the vine bridge. Now Shikoku is amazing and it's topography is nothing like I've seen up until now in Japan. The centre of the island is completely covered in mountains, which are totally covered in tress,leading down to steep gorges. I imagine it was possible to live in one of these valleys and never leave or meet someone from even the next valley. The roads a usually one lane and very windy,Ikematsu San would often lean out his window, fold in his wing mirror,to let other cars go past.And the roads weren't quiet either, they were surprisingly busy!Not the wide roads that I'm used to in Hokkaido.
The vine bridge was really cool.There are only 3 left in Shikoku,and the 1 we went to,is the most famous.The Ikematsu's bought our tickets and off we went. I was nervous, and made sure not to let go of the rail at any time,but I'm glad that I did it.The bridge is reinforced with steel cables now and the vines replaced every 3 years, it7s an amazing feat of engineering.There were once hundreds of these bridges throughout Shikoku and looking at the mountains,it's easy to see why.After the bridge,we drove further into the hills and went to Tsurugi San,a 2000 metre mountain,for some of the local,famous soba. It was really good. Then in the afternoon we continued driving through the mountains,with me gasping "oh my god" at every new vista.Unfortunately I must have said it once to often as Atsuki started saying it. Maybe not the English his grandparents wanted him to learn, but really funny!He was so cute!
We went to Shozan Ji(12),which I was really grateful for as it is 13km from the last temple and on a 700metre tall mountain.Then it was on to Dainichi Ji(13),our second big day temple of the pilgrimage,where the Ikematsu's said goodbye to us. Atsuki wasn't happy with Betsy,he didn't say goodbye. We prayed at the temple and said thanks for the great day we had had and that we were so far along our path. And then we had to look for a place to stay,the temple staff said that it was fine for us to stay in the temple grounds,but we couldn't7t use the tent. We weren't totally sure about that,but it was getting late and there looked to be no better places on our map. So we got out the trusty tarp and set up on the temple balcony!An interesting end to an already amazing day.
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