2019-03-24: Day 10 – Temple 27

What a beautiful sunrise this morning sitting by the window enjoying a cup of green tea.

The morning service was wonderful. Last night Naomi helped me fill out a paper in memory of dad. After the service the monk gave us beautiful papers with dad’s name on it that be can be put on the butsadon (I know I probably spelled it wrong) with a picture of the person. I was able to pack it carefully in my pack. I just hope I can get it back to Canada ok.

After a wonderful breakfast I walked back to the bus stop with Naomi who is heading back to Tokyo. She will do the rest of the pilgrimage at another time.

I took the bus/train to the bottom of temple 27 and then did the hard climb up to Temple 27. It was a beautiful day. I decided at the rest hut halfway up the mountain climbs I would leave my day pack behind the washroom. It made the final hard climb much easier. It was there, so was able to pick it up on the way down.

The view from the temple was wonderful. I enjoyed spending time admiring the groomed bushes amongst the mountain rock garden.

Of course what would a temple be without statues.

On the climb up the mountain I ran into Linda who appeared on the road. We caught up on the news of her adventures the day before.

After the hike down the mountain I caught the train to Aki where I was staying for the night.

Since I was early for check in I went to the supermarket close to the station. As I was walking to the Business Hotel, Linda reappeared, trying g to find a place to withdraw some cash. After a short catch up on the news, Linda set off to find her accommodations and set off to find mine.

After checking in my went to the Family Mart nearby and purchased a bento box for dinner and yogurt for breakfast.

Tomorrow is a 20km walk along the coast to Koichi. Hope the sunshine holds up.