Rain and Trains

It was pouring rain this morning. Last night I stayed in a nice little business hotel near temple 23. It is 75 kilometers to number 24, plus abominable weather. So to save time and stay dry I took the Japan Railroad line to Kaifu then the Asa-Kaigan Railroad line to Kannoura. From there I caught a bus to the stop nearest to temple 24. It was a steep and very wet, but still beautiful hike up to the Hotsumisakiji Temple. It was quite foggy and mysterious. As the rain slowed down the wind sped up and I was engaged in quite a battle with my rain poncho that kept trying to fly away with me in it. Also the wind has a lot of fun with that big hat I wear. I was really happy when the rain finally stopped and I could bundle up that poncho and shove it into my backpack. I finally gave up on the hat and tied to to my pack. I had braided my hair to keep it out of the way but in that wind my hair was flying everywhere. I'm glad I didn't have a mirror because I would have scared myself. Perhaps I kept away a few evil spirits with my wild look.

I was having a nice time walking along the ocean finding my way to temple number 25, following the little red pilgrim signs. Then suddenly I came to a sign that said temple 26 was 2 kilometers away!

Somehow I had managed to totally miss number 25. I started to panic, then realized it had to be less than 2 kilometers back. So I turned around and started back. But in reverse, I couldn't even find the signs. I asked several people for directions and was usually only able to understand one or two words of their explanations. At one point I saw a sign clearly pointing towards the temple. But when I followed it, a man who had given me directions earlier, ran after me to let me know that I was wrong again! I finally found it. Even when I was standing in front of the temple, I could hardly tell it was there. I understood why I had missed it. It was very well hidden.

That little mishap set me back about one hour, but I still had plenty of time to visit number 26 and arrive at the Urashima Minshuku where I am staying tonight. I hope I didn't scare them when I showed up with my hair style provided by the North Wind.

They provided me with a delicious dinner, although I could only identify about half of what I was eating. It was very tasty whatever it was!