Gorgeous Walk

Mayulee drove me down to Saijo station this morning and I took the train to Iyo-Mishima station. With all my injuries and delay after stumbling on my way down from Yokomineji, I decided to simply cut off most of the 44.7 kilometers between it and number 65 and go straight to the closest station, which was right down the street from the hotel I had booked for tonight. Expedia.com actually came through with a hotel closer than Honolulu this time. It was too early to check in when I arrived but they were kind enough to let me stash my backpack at their front desk so I could enjoy my hike to Sankakuji without it.

It was a perfect day, just the right temperature for a nice hike. The first part was in town but it quickly turned into a charming mountain trail. Near the beginning of the trail a couple of pilgrims called me over to Togawa Koen where a nice man was offering osetai to passing pilgrims. He gave me something delicious to drink. I don't know what it was but I will remember it for the rest of my life! It was delicious.

At one point the tiniest little girl came running after me with a little bowl of candy offering more osetai. She was adorable. I was quite well fed today because Mayulee also stuffed me with goodies before she drove me to the station. I think I gained weight today.

The trail was so nice and peaceful with nothing but the sound of the birds as I passed by. I rescued a tiny green frog who was hopping along a little piece of road I crossed. He seemed to be trying to get run over by a passing car. The mountain trail was pretty steep in places but since it was nice and cool it was quite enjoyable.

Sankakuji has one of the most beautiful natural settings of any of the temples so far. So many beautiful varieties of deciduous trees, all with brilliant but different shades of the bright greens of early spring. It also has some of the most beautiful statues that I have seen so far. I spent some time there relaxing and enjoying some of all that food I was carrying.

For variety instead of going down the same trail I went part of the way on the road. It gave a slightly different view of the city and I felt less likely to have another one of my stumbling accidents. I'm running out of areas that are not bandaged at this point.

I got down to my hotel right at check in time. As soon as I got to my room I decided I'd had just about enough of the painful little toe on my left foot. My shoes don't feel tight but the left one obviously is not wide enough for that toe. I took my toenail clippers and chopped a big hole in that shoe. Now that toe can just flop around in the breeze and hopefully it will stop swelling and blistering and developing all those disgusting looking raw spots. It was either cut a hole in that shoe or find a retired samurai and have him do a quick toe amputation. I've had all I can take from that toe. The shoes are done for anyway and I will need to replace them when I get to Liverpool for the marathon. They have almost no tread left at this point.

I managed to make a phone hotel reservation for tomorrow night near temples 66, 67, 68, and 69. It's always a challenge to make a phone call with my pathetic command of Japanese. But I was successful this time.