Day 21

Weather: Rain

Before I forget: I hope you all have a good Easter long weekend (if you celebrate and/or are in a country that has the Friday and Monday off.)

First temple was Temple 52 (Taisanji). It was pretty easy to get to by tram, train, and then bus. The bus literally stops in front of the gate. One does have to walk further up a hill, but not too taxing a climb.

Note: Carrying wet pilgrims gear on a crowded tram and then a crowded train is not fun for me, nor the other passengers.

After that it is a short 2.6km walk to Temple 53 (Enmyoji). However, the walk was when the rain was at its heaviest today. I was soaking and cold by the time I got to Enmyoji, but a hot coffee from the vending machine at the train station fixed that… as well as putting on more layers of clothing. One of the bad things about the Hakui (the white pilgrim’s top) is that it is made of cotton and when it gets wet it stays wet and clings to other clothing and the body making it hard to stay warm.

After Enmyoji I took a train and bus to Temple 54 (Enmeiji). One of the things I learned about the Henro.org site and the public transport option is to play around with the departure times, for example, make the departure time a little later.

I ended up getting off at an obscure train station and waiting for a bus in the rain by the windy and cold seaside. The bus was scheduled to arrive an hour later and there was no shelter. Luckily, my fingers were numb and I accidentally erased the route it had suggested. So I requested the directions again and lo and behold the next train would take me to a bus connection that wasn’t such a long wait and bonus: away from the blustering ocean.

By the time I got to Enmeiji the rain was more of a drizzle. The next temple I went to was Temple 56 (Taisanji).

Nope, I didn’t forget Temple 55! I am staying in Imabari City tonight and Temple 55 (Nankobo) is closer to where I’m staying. It was faster for me to walk to Taisanji than it would have been to walk to Nankobo and back to Taisanji.

After Nankobo I went to my hotel and took a long hot bath! I also used their laundry and dryer.

Note: most places offer the use of a washing machine, and some even have dryers! All the places have soap and shampoo as well as bath towels (no need to carry these with you), but not all offer conditioner and some bath towels are small. (Camping is different. No washing machines, hot baths, soap, shampoo, or towels).