Today was wonderful even with a slight mishap within the first few kilometers. I managed to catch my foot on a protruding piece of concrete that sent me plummeting to the ground. I scraped both hands and my left knee was a bloody mess. I was very close to temple 8, my first temple of the day. When I got there I spent a few minutes cleaning up my mess. I managed to bleed all over my white clothes. It took all the Band-Aids I had to cover my hands so that I could actually touch something without being a biohazard. But there wasn't much I could do for the knee. When my pants started sticking to it I decided to take some sort of action. The best thing I could come up with was the plastic bag holding the banana I'd brought for lunch. I tore it and made a plastic bandage that at least separated the mess from my pants. A very kind gentleman saw my pathetic attempt at first aid and led me to his friend's house where they gave me a proper bandage. That was some of the nicest osetai I have received so far. Osetai are little gifts that people give the passing pilgrims. One man gave me two of the most delicious oranges I have ever tasted and they went well with my banana for lunch.
Temples 8, 9, and 10 were fairly close together but number 11 was nearly 10 kilometers from number 10. When you arrive at number 11 it is time to stop because number 12 is at the top of a mountain and it will take at least half a day to get there. So after my visit at Fujiidera I walked another 2.5 kilometers to the Kamojima station and took the train back to Tokushima and walked back to my first hotel. In the morning I will take the train back and return to temple 11 and begin the long climb to Shosanji, number 12. Tokushima is even closer to the trail down towards temple 13, so I booked the same hotel for tomorrow night. That way my pack can have a restful day without me! I'm only hauling the absolute necessities to the top of that mountain tomorrow.
So far the trip has been amazing!
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