27 March 2025 - Day 25 - Towards Enkoji, Temple 39 - 26 km

Another excellent breakfast with Marjorie, a few more tactical checks about planning with dear Kei and I am almost on my way. Kei is helping out at the Okinohama Inn and takes time to consult Henros like me on their planning and accommodations. Thanks a lot for your support!

It was a normal distance day with no exceptional elevation or trails but with previsions of A LOT of rain. I was on my way before 8. And sure enough after 10 minutes it started to pour. At 8:15 I was drenched and my shoes were making slurping sounds with every single step. What to do? It’s supposed to rain all day and now hardly 30 minutes into my walking day nothing remains dry. It would make no sense to change shoes or socks to avoid blisters as the other pairs would also be soaking wet in no time. So on I went, looking for shelter whenever the downpour got too bad.

At my first toilet/shelter stop, I realised I had been here with Yohann a few days before and we had had ourselves a good coffee at the inn. But before I could decide to renew this wonderful experience, two truck drivers started talking to me and offered me a hot coffee from the vending machine. They told me they come from Mihara and that it’s still a long way to go. They were quite surprised that a European woman would do this pilgrimage on her own. So I then walked on without paying a visit to the nice lady from the inn.

There are Henro Huts along the roads in irregular distances and today two Huts were on my way. Luckily the rain got lighter and finally stopped, so at my next Henro Hut I made a long break and took off my shoes to let them start to dry. My pants were already mostly dry, so was my rainjacket.

Nevertheless, the road had some interesting views for me. Not only the change from ocean back to the mountains through small villages and rice pads. No, the road itself was full of life and I was surprised to see so many small red crabs crossing the street. Unfortunately, some were crushed by cars. A frog jumped away while I was walking past and the ever present herons looked at me suspiciously. And while I was wondering whether there are no worms in Japan that tend to come out when it rains, I saw a huge specimen! A beauty! All shining blue and partially grey, changing its colour in all rainbow hues.

When I got to Mihara, I was way too early again so I strolled to the tiny supermarket and bought a few things, had a good drink and tried to talk to a Henro woman who I’d seen several times these last days and who turned out to be Taiwanese (and not Japanese).

I then went to my Minshuku for the night and was surprised to find the nice Japanese Henro I’d shared the Henro Hut with, sitting in the kitchen and waiting for check-in. We tried to have a conversation via the translator app but it was difficult. Still, we laughed a lot, if only because we couldn’t understand each other. The man told me he was 77, but doesn’t look any older than 50 to me!

The downpour has started again, so I am happy to be indoors and I am hoping these rains also fall in the Imabari region where there are bushfires threatening houses. This rain would certainly help to put them out.

Dinner with my Japanese friend, whose name I do not know, was delicious! The Hostess kept bringing more and more food she was still cooking/frying while we already ate. Thank you for these exceptional dishes!

Thank you, dear readers, as always, for staying with me and reading my ramblings. See you tomorrow on this channel.