Konbini: The Henro’s Best Friend
Gordon: The Japanese language has incorporated a surprising number of English words. They are generally unrecognizable, however, because Japanese pronunciation splits the consonant combinations with ... Read More
Approaching Enlightenment: Temple 38
Ruth: I can feel that we are getting closer to the edge of the Kochi Prefecture, and with that the end of the period of ... Read More
Fair Weather means Time to Camp: Temples 41-43
Ruth: It’s not that I don’t like ryokans (traditional Japanese inns), but we have stayed in so many lately that I have been wanting a ... Read More
Halfway: Temples 44 and 45
Gordon: Near the end of a long but beautiful walk / ride we reached Temple 44 yesterday. This means that we have now visited half ... Read More
Mountains, Monkeys and Magic: Temples 46 & 47
Ruth: There is usually at least one point in every trip where I have to thank my Pocket Earth app for finding me yet another ... Read More
Japan can be a bit Nutty: Temples 48-51
Ruth: There are moments everyday when I am struck by just how different Japan is from any other country I have visited. It goes beyond ... Read More
Hanging out with locals: Temples 52-58
Ruth: There are relatively few foreigners on the Shikoku pilgrimage route, so we tend to spend our time with the Japanese that we meet. As ... Read More
Another Henro-korogashi: Temples 59 – 62
Gordon: We are spending two nights at a business ryokan near Temple 62. This has permitted us to enjoy an unladen day doing a return ... Read More
Pulling and pushing my bike up to Temple 65.
Ruth: I knew in advance that most of the 350 meter climb up to Temple 65 occurred in the last few steep kilometres. I taped ... Read More
Staying with a Hibakusha: Temples 66 to 69
Gordon: Last night we spent the night at Minshuku Okada, located between Temples 65 and 66. The proprietor, Akira Okada, is in many respects a ... Read More