Tuesday, October 18, 2016 – Temple 39 (Enkoji ) & Temple 40 ( Kanjizaiji)

Today we had an early start, so we could catch the 7:10 am bus back to Nakamura. This will cut off 3 to 4 days of walking, since we don’t have enough time to walk all of the 1200 km.

Before heading out on the bus, I was able to take a few more pictures of the beautiful rock park which has our lodging building in the background, as well as, some more of the Temple 38 statues.

They had a corgi dog at the Temple lodging who was outside and saw us off in the morning. Her name was Mimi and reminded me of Cecil (a friends dog). When I gave the manager a Canadian flag pin last night, she mentioned her daughter was living in Vancouver. Small world.

When we arrived at Nakamura we took a train to the closest train station to Temple 39. The trains are nicely decorated.

The weather turned out nice for walking. It got a bit warm in the early afternoon. Here are some of the photos from Temple 40.

Finally, one last photo of the colorful strings of peace cranes at the Temple.

Sorry, didn’t take too many photos today.

Today, we entered into Ehime Perfecture (province) which is the “Place of Enlightenment”, the third phase of the pilgrimage. I told Bob, he must have past the Ascetic Training phase, as he is doing well figuring out how to use the trains and buses, as well as, finding the kind of coffee he likes in the vending machines.

Tomorrow will be a busy walking day where we are planning to do three more temples.