So, I sort of have the wi-fi thing figured out but it depends on being near a conbini (convenience store) regularly. There are a lot of them but you can’t always count on being near one in rural areas, like where I am as I write this. However, I wanted to share a few thoughts out of the normal order here while I have a few spare hours today.
First is I wanted to just say how kind people are in Shikoku toward the o-henro. I write this to you from one such example, a village daishido in Uchiko Town area. A daishido is a small hall where a Buddha is enshrined. This village is kind enough to offer theirs to walking o-henro this giving me a lovely place to rest my feet for no money. Pic below.
Second, my feet are much better now. It was part of the whole learning process of doing this trip. Part of that was just learning what my rhythms and capabilities were. I came into this thinking 30-40km/day was a feasible expectation for this trip, even with a pack. 25-30km/ day has turned out to be the reality. I’ve adjusted and I’m doing much better for it. I think I will be able to walk the rest of this now comfortably.
Third, I am going to try to catch up with the posts. It not only takes a while to compose a post but it’s also a matter of finding the time too. Most days are 6-9 hours walking then finding food and shelter. In the exhaustion, I don’t always have the energy to catch up as I wish I could.
And on a similar note, I have been focussing on temples so far because they are not only pretty but also a good structure to this trip. They are really only about 5% of my time here as mostly I walk. The pics I take along the way are more like one-offs and random rocks that may not seem like much on their own. Perhaps when I get caught up, I’ll do something more thematic with pics across multiple days.
Finally, I know I passed the halfway mile marker a few days ago but I’m also near a few other halfways too. I’m now also over halfway through my days here (50ish) and will hit the halfway temple (44) tomorrow. And on that, I want to say that it feels good. I can do this.
