14 March 2025 - Day 12 - Temple 27 - 30 km on foot with elevation gain of 725 m

I have been here on Shikoku for almost 2 weeks now and it does feel strange to have a “normal” hotel room with my own toilet, shower and bath. What a waste! Ok, for a big hotel it would be complicated, but it feels perfectly ok to me now, to share these amenities with other people in the smaller Minshukus or Ryokans. Especially since these amenities are kept totally clean by the users as well as by the owners.

The breakfast at the Business Hotel was good and a little later I was on the road to Temple Konomineji, another mountain beauty that needs to be conquered via a very steep 3 km road. After I had managed about 2/3 of the way, I see another Henro, Jay from Massachussets, whom I had met shortly a few days ago, waving at me and holding half a mandarine for me to eat. Needless to say it was the most exquisite mandarine I have ever eaten! Big thanks to you, Jay!

After I had taken a few breaths and made my pulse go below 140 again, we pushed on for the rest of the mountain. When we finally arrived at Temple 27, we couldn’t stop being amazed by the sheer beauty of the gardens and the buildings, all built on several levels. Jay continued to a Shinto shrine a few hundred meters further up, but I was out of time (and out of power) so I let him go. It was very hard to leave this particular Temple.

On the walk down, which is the same as the way up, met a few more Henro going up and as the temperature was rising I was quite happy to be on my way down, after all it was already midday by now and I had a lot of km left to walk.

So I needed to take the bus again for a little bit, the problem being that the inn-keepers wait for you to show up and you usually should do that between 15:00 and 16:00, but definitely before 17:00. While I was waiting for said bus, they only run like once every hour, there comes Jay again, who confirms that the Shinto Shrine and the observation deck on top of the mountain were worth climbing some more.

When you enter the bus, you enter through the hind door and take a ticket from a machine that states a number which corresponds to the area you got on the bus. The further you go, the higher the price. You can follow this on a screen at the front of the bus. When you get off you pay your fare to the busdriver.

I stayed in the bus for about 5 km and had to do some 15 more km when I got off. After finally arriving and checking in, I enjoyed a good nice Onsen, all alone, soaking in the 41 degree water. Good for the bones, muscles and mental well-being.

Tomorrow should be a normal stage again with some 20-25 km, the accommodation situation has bettered itself for now, but I am still forced to ask my hosts to call and make reservations for me. I am hoping I will have booked all the nights in another week or two.

Thank you, dear reader, for staying with me. A new update should come in about 24 hours. Thanks for all your kind messages via whichever means, they do mean a lot to me and give me motivation to go on.