Shikoku 88 – Days 16 to 18

Today was a rainy day. I wouldn’t want to switch places with the walking Henros… if not already for all that walking along paved roads, often with traffic constantly going by (yes, by now I have seen quite a few walking Henros).. but doing that in the rain all day long… no thank you…

I had my „camper“ outside temple 48 last night, so I was one of the first to visit it. Very quiet, the sound of the rain on the leaves and roofs, and on my umbrella, one of those clear almost see-through Japanese ones… very nice atmosphere, despite or rather with the rain… Then I went to the nearby Kombini, in this case a Family Mart, for a coffee and some breakfast.. On to temples 49, 50 and finally 51. After some more snacks and coffee, I went to see Matsuyama castle (I forgot to mention, all those temples lead me into Matsuyama). Very nice, a long walk through a forest up the castle hill, in slight rain, and then this magnificent castle, again one of the 12 still standing/original ones. Maybe because Shikoku is a little out of the way that here there is a more than fair share of those original castle towers compared to the few others spread all over the rest of Japan. So by now I have seen 5 out of the 12 (in earlier Japan visits Himeiji and Matsumoto, and now Kochi, Uwajima and Matsuyama). In the castle visitors restaurant I had a very good bowl of hot nabe udon, very much appreciated in this kind of weather…

The evening ended, you guessed it, with an Onsen visit, and now I am „camping“ outside temple 52… Tomorrow the rain is forecasted to end (it has already)… I’ll keep my fingers crossed that this is only a sporadic occurrence during this Shikoku round trip…

Today, first at 7 visiting temple 52, very mystic in the forest… but then the sun came over the hills.. Some coffee and breakfast at Lawson Kombini… and we were back to T-shirt weather, yeah! Then temple 53, and it followed a beautiful drive along the coast to the Seto inland sea, subtropical summer vacation feeling… Lunch at a nice Burger place overlooking the sea.. yes, I know, burger, but this was Japanese style and quality, and with avocado and chicken, so it was really okay.. and I had a nice chat with my Japanese eating-neighbor… when my Japanese conversation partner is willing to understand, we can have a quite nice conversation even with my limited Japanese.. I had a similar experience two days ago when climbing up to temple 45.. the 71 year-old Japanese lady had decided that I must be able to understand and speak Japanese, and didn’t let me off the hook… which lead to a very nice talk also…

Okay, back on the road, and into Imabari, I did not expect it to be so city-like, but no problem with the driving, I find most towns and even smaller cities (including Matsuyama, which has as many inhabitants as Frankfurt) I find these are more like villages or small towns structurally, including some very narrow streets, they are just more expansive area-wise.. Here I visited temples 54 and finally 55, before heading into the city center on foot to see Imabari castle. The grounds and overall design are impressive, one of the biggest water castles (with seawater surrounding it) in Japan, but the castle tower was a concrete reconstruction. It had a nice view from the top floor, though! Finally, after the usual Onsen, which was the biggest I have yet been to, I am back in my van, on the parking lot of temple 55, because it is really quiet here, although in the middle of town, and it has toilets that are open all night…

Day 18, slight morning rain, off to the Kombini for breakfast, and on to temple 56. Beautiful surroundings.. and a nice view.. I continued with temples 57, 58 and finally 59… before I decided to call it a day, it was only 11 o’clock, but it is Sunday, and I needed a break. So I went to a mid-day Onsen visit, followed by a nice lunch there, tonkatsu with salad, rice and miso, and an alcohol-free beer… all for 1300 Yen, so around 9 Euros. Eating here is generally very affordable, as are drinks and snacks at the kombinis, parking is (almost) always free (I only twice had to pay in front of Ozu and Uwajima castles, the equivalent of about 2 Euros each), and never ever does one have to pay for using a toilet (and still they are cleaner than in Germany)…

The afternoon and evening were spent at the beach photographing, having a coffee and sweat snack… and ended with, again, onsen, before settling for the night at a nearby roadside station. For some reason I am not the only one here this time.. I estimate around 20 vans here…