What a beautiful day. I slept with my window open instead of using the air con for cooling and heating. I woke up to the sound of the ocean and gentle ocean breeze. There was a beautiful sunrise.
The good thing about the hotel is the bath was open at 6 am, so I could go down for one last soak in the whirlpool with the deep sea water. After breakfast we walked along the coastal path, which takes you along the coastline with the waves beating against the rocks. Then we walked thru small villages with sheltered harbours for the fishing boats.
Along the way there were numerous signs stating how high it was from sea level and where the closest tsunami evacuation safety point was.
Temple 25 had a few stairs you had to climb to get to the main Temple.
In the gate picture above, on the way up the stairs, you could go in and ring the Temple bell to announce your arrival.
There was a beautiful view of the town from the main Temple.
On the way to Temple 26, I came across some flowers, so thought I would snap a picture for Auntie Laura (who is following my blog). Thanks both to you and my mom for following and posting comments. Love you both. Mom, good to hear things are healing well with the hip replacement and you can manage to get to the deck with your walker. You both are in my prayers when I visit the Temples.
On the walk to Temple 26 a car stopped and three ohenros in the car gave us some oranges as osettai. Then at a rest stop, just before you turn up the hill you have to climb, a nice man came and asked us to come in to his restaurant and relax for a coffee as osettai. There was a monk we seen walking along the pilgrimage and he was invited in as well. This is what makes the Shikoku pilgrimage so special. It is the kindness of the people. Reminds me a bit like Nova Scotia.
Here are some pictures from Temple 26.
I really like the new signs some Temple have now showing which is the main temple, Kobo Daishi temple and stamp office. Here is one.
There is no way to get them mixed up with these new signs.
Since we had about an hour before we could check into temple 26 accommodations, I decided to walk an old path thru the woods. At first I almost ran into these huge spider webs with a huge spider in it. See if you can see the spider in the pictures below.
Well just as I rounded a tree to avoid one, I came across a second one blocking the path. I decided to take a short cut around it, but because there might be snakes in the undergrowth, I decided to run a short cut to another path. Well I had a “where is Buddha” moment when I ran smack into another big spider web. My arms went flying. My smartphone went flying. I was worried the big spider was on me and might bite me. So there was almost no blog entry today. After I calmed myself down and did a search for my smartphone, which was undamaged, I found a stick, which I used to wave in front of me to make sure I didn’t miss one of the cobwebs. Here are some of the pictures I was able to take on my trek.
Along the way I found some huge white mushrooms.
I was a bit afraid of a snake encounter so didn’t venture any future to take pictures.
We were able to check in for our stay at Temple 26. The same old kind lady is still there. She is such a charm to watch as she went with her cart to put a fresh flower in each room.
Here is a picture of the beautiful wood carving at the entry way and a picture of the beautiful view of the coast.
My room was right behind the wood carving. Temple 26 is a must stay temple on my list.
At supper we were joined by our two ladies from Taiwan. They were planning on camping but were now staying in accommodations and taking the train/bus for longer distances, like us. It was like old home week at during supper.
What a wonderful beautiful day. It was sunny all day with some cool breezes. Hopefully, tomorrow will be the same.
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