After Sato san left us at Iwamoto ji, we waited in the car park in the hope of getting a ride. The next temple, Kongofuku ji, (no.38) was over 90 kms away and stuck out on a cape. While we were waiting we were given some mochi, which made a nice snack. After our first few attempts to get a ride we were successful and got a ride with a lovely couple from Honshu. They dropped us off around 2pm and we looked around the temple. It was really beautiful and different from the other temples we had visited. First, it is in the very south of Kochi and the weather there is a lot warmer than the inland sea area of Shikoku, so there were lots of palm trees and a generally tropical feel to the place. Then it had a large pond in the middle and was well laid out.
We went outside and comtemplated trying to get a ride to the next temple which was 40 kms away, but we came to the conclusion that it was a natural stopping point for the day, as no one seemed to be going further and were setting up for the night in the local hotels. We always found it difficult to get rides at the end of the day, most henro collect the stamps from the temples to show that they have been there, and the stamp office closes at 5pm. So generally,people wouldn't visit a temple after 5pm. Of course, for us, that wasn't a consideration, as long as it was light,Betsy could say her prayers and I could take my photos!!
We took a bus to get us off the cape and started walking, we came to a local map that that said that there was a camp site near by, so off we went. We were walking through Tatsukushi town,when we were stopped by an oji san and asked where we were going. We explained about the camp site, at which he shook his head and said that the campsite was 30mins by car. Not what I wanted to hear. He then flagged down a friend and explained our predicament and off his friend went. He returned a few minutes later with his car and said he would take us to the camp site. The first ojisan than vouched for his friend and told us to beware of bad Japanese people. We said OK!!!!! (Actually I am not sure what a bad Japanese person would look/act like). So off we went, and set up the tent in a totally empty,very nice camp site and went to explore our surroundings.
We were safely in our tent and playing cards (as we did most nights on our trip through Japan),when we heard a voice outside the tent. A bit concerned as it might be all those bad Japanese people we had heard so much about, I stuck my head out.It was only our helpful driver oji san and his wife. He had obviously gone home and told her about his day and mentioned us. She, probably, had scolded us for leaving us in such a dangerous place and returned with him. They then spent 30 mins trying to persaude us that we should spend the night in their house as it would be much safer.We declined, giving them a variety of reasons, but not 1 of the real ones. We were planning to hitch hike in the morning and wanted to be near the main road for a good early start. They left us be and we settled down for the night.
We packed up in the morning, (April 17th) after a quiet night and started walking across the parking lot to the road. From a car parked there a guy stuck his head out and asked what we were up to, we explained, and he promptly offered us a ride to a destination of the morning,Enko ji (no.39). And that is how we left Kochi preferture and arrived into Ehime, slightly behind schedule.