Sunday, October 16, 2016 – Temple 37 (Iwamotoji)

Once again saw a wonderful sunrise from the Kokumin-shukusha Tosa hotel where we stayed at last night. It was nestled up in the mountains and had a beautiful view of the sea. I enjoy the sound of the waves of the ocean. So peaceful.

Here is a picture of the hotel at the top of the mountain.

Next to it was another hotel which reminded me of Greece.

The food has been great. I enjoyed the Japanese breakfast. Not always sure what it is, but it is very tasty. Even Bob has been enjoying the Japanese cuisine.

The plan was to take a ferry boat from Umetate to Uranouchi to reduce our walking distance. When we asked, the hotel manager who spoke excellent English, said it didn’t run on Sunday. We asked about a taxi and he suggested we take the bus that leaves about a 30 minute walk from the hotel at 8:12 am. The bus would take us to a train station and we could take the train and walk from there.

On the way to the bus stop we passed a small sheltered harbour created for the fishermen.

Here is a photo of the sign next to the bus stop with a statue of Kobo Daishi.There are lots of statues of Kobo Daishi who established the Temples on Shikoku and of which the pilgrimage follows his path.

When we got off the train it started to rain, then poured. Sometimes very heavy. As I write this blog it is still raining heavy. We were soaked when we checked into Temple 37 where we were staying. Just glad they have a washer and dryer we can used to wash and dry our clothes. 

So I didn’t take many photos. Here is one of the Temple from the where we are staying, so as not to get my phone wet.

At Temple 37 one of the ceiling panels painted by the local people is of Marilyn Monroe. She is following me on the pilgrimage it seems.

I took some photos of the Temple in the accommodations building where we will have our morning service at 6 am.

I was surprised when I went to get my book stamped that the nun was wearing the Canadian flag pin I gave her last time. I asked if she remembered me and she did.

Hopefully the rain will let up for tomorrow. Here are some last photos I took of my room I am staying at the Temple since I couldn’t take many around the temple because of the rain.

The supper meal was wonderful. I enjoyed it very much.