Day 23

Weather: Sunny

The city I stayed in last night, Saijo, is listed as one of the 100 best spring waters in Japan and there is a drinking fountain in front of Ito-Saijo where one can sample it.

It took two buses 1 hour to get to the top of the mountain where Temple 60 (Yokomineji) is located. The first bus was a retro city bus and it dropped me off at a bus stop and I had to walk less then 200 meters to get the second bus station. The second bus was a minibus (the type I’ve been seeing small groups of Ohenro using). I paid for the return ticket (¥1800) at the bus station and didn’t have to wait for a minibus (it waits for passengers). The driver drove me to the top. Waited for me. AND brought me back to the city bus stop. The drivers also radio a toll both and each other to let them know where they are on the route and how many cars they passed as a heads up for each other. I thought that was a great system they had.. very considerate.

When I was on the JET Programme (20 years ago) I spent one of my holidays on a organized bus tour to a couple of temples in Shikoku. Yokomineji was one of those temples.

The next temple on my journey was Temple 65 (Sankakuji). On the bus journey to Sankakui-guchi bus stop (2.8km away from the temple – again on a mountain) I noticed a smell. At first, I thought it was the older woman sitting near me, but the smell lasted a LONG time and I didn’t think the older woman could have THAT much hot air in her! Was it me!? I then remembered reading in the guidebook that the city close to Sankakuji has a lot of paper-manufacturing companies…sorry for thinking the worst older lady. 🙇🏻‍♀️

Usagi-Chan also found a friend on our way down from Sankakuji and heading to our hotel.