Had a lovely visit with a praying mantis today. More later on. The day started out sunny with a few clouds. Good weather for walking. However, as the day progressed it got cloudier, and darker clouds rolled in. Thought for sure it was going to rain but never did.
The buffet breakfast at the kanpo was excellent. Temple 68 and 69 are side by side each other. Here is a picture of the gate.
We continued onto Temple 70. We decided to take the quieter path along the river. An older man biking with his small maltese dog in the front carrier, asked where we were from. He ended up walking his bike and talking English with us. He explained about the temples, where there were two waterfalls and about some of the local history. He wanted to make sure we didn’t get lost and came with us to the bridge that we had to cross to get to Temple 70 and then bid his farewells.
Temple 70 has a nice 5 level pagoda, however, it was being restored, so was surrounded with construction tarps.
Here are some of the photos of statues at the temple and the incense urn, where you put the three incense sticks you light.
On the way to Temple 71 we stopped at the outdoor foot bath. The cold water felt good on our hot feet.
As we sat soaking our feet, a praying mantis came to join us. He walked up the side and along the edge of the footbath, then right up my pant leg ( as I sat there). When he started up my shirt, I decided to bid him farewell. He sure was a friendly guy. Here are some of the pictures.
On the climb up the stairs to Temple 71, there was a nice statue.
At the temple they had on display one of the huge bells that hang in the bell tower you ring when you arrive at the temple.
There was also a statue of Kobo Daish and two level pagoda.
It was funny I ran into ohenros I met during my last Shikoku pilgrimage. They were driving the pilgrimage this time in the reverse order. We talked about the foreigners ohenros they met last time, Dara, Danielle, and many others. It was like old home week.
One last picture of the Furnei Park onsen we are staying at tonight.
Again a wonderful day on the pilgrimage where I got to meet a praying mantis.
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