10 April 2025 - Day 39 - A very long walk to Imabari, including Temples 54, 55 and 56 - 37,5 km

I woke up as usual around 5:30 and had plenty of time to get ready and repack my whole backpack again before Kei picked me up at 7. Breakfast was a few selfmade biscuits by my nice hostess. And they were delicious!!

Kei then let me go next to Iyo-Hojo Station where he had picked me up yesterday. He suggested to drive me a little further but I declined with thanks. Kei had done so much for me already and I felt like walking the whole part. If only I had known…

The road to Enmeiji, Temple 54 was about 25 km and rather monotonous. A lot of the way was next to a busy road, some of it along the coast. There was however not very much to see, the weather made it impossible to have a nice view of the Seto Inland Sea and the bridges between Shikoku and Honshu. Still, the predicted rain did take its time so I kept at least dry.

Shortly before finally reaching Enmeiji, with the hot and humid weather, I was fantasising about the cold sweet and sour drink I would get at the conbini that was coming up soon. A Japanese man in his car asked me where I come from, wished me good luck and be careful and drove off. 2 minutes later he comes back and gives me an ice cold small energy drink! Almost exactly the same I had been fantasizing about. Needless to say it was down my throat in no time. Thank you dear man, the timing couldn’t have been more perfect!

Today, at least 4 people along the road (other than the people in Temples) asked me where I come from and started a little chat. This is always a welcome interruption and I am aware that I am kind of an ambassador for my country, so I just hope I am doing a good job.

So I finally reached Temple Enmeiji after more than 25 km and was already quite drained by then. Here I met Nicolas the Swiss guy and the Dutch woman whose name I didn’t get. We talked a little and I made a little lunchbreak at the Temple. It was another beautiful Temple in a nice surrounding.

It was hard to get going again, but Nankobo, Temple 55 was only 3,5 km away. Somehow these kilometers stretched out today but then I made it to the place in the middle of a few busy streets, which is occupied by two different Temples. Obviously I went to the Shinto Shrine first and then realised it was the wrong one. Nankobo is at the same time a very old but also a very new Temple, as it was destroyed during WWII and completely rebuilt since. The result does look very ok. Here a man gave me a bottle of water as ossetai and asked if he could make a picture of us both. Of course! And thanks for the water!

I was now close to my hotel for the night but despite the rain that had started around 15:30 I felt I wanted to go to Taisanji, Temple 56, as well. It was only 3 km and my hotel was somewhere in between. Visiting Temple 56 today would give me more flexibility tomorrow (I could leave earlier without bothering about opening hours of the stamp office and I had gained some 30 minutes of time spent at the Temple).

But when I was on my way it started to rain harder and I noticed my hotel was much closer to Temple 55 than I had thought. But now it was too late to turn around. So I continued walking, cursing myself for this stupid idea. Once arrived I went to the stamp office first and did my rituals afterwards in the rain. I almost forgot to take the usual picture. Then I hurried back to my hotel and when I wanted to check in, they sent me on another 100 m to their new building. When I was finally in my room my counter stood at 37,51 km. And I still needed to get something for dinner. So after a 10 minute rest I went out to a ramen restaurant nearby, which probably added another kilometer to the count.

Tomorrow will also be a big day. Let’s hope my feet have recovered till then.

Thank you all for reading and for your comments. I am always happy to get feedback in whichever form you want. Till tomorrow!