Today we had our earliest start so far. At 6:00 sharp 🕕 our host drove us to the same spot where we finished our day yesterday, right after temple 21 (太龍寺). After a “quick” walk (about 10k) we arrived at temple 22 (平等寺), which was the only temple we visited today. While we were having breakfast there we saw two big groups of elderly japanese pilgrims which were all very polite and wished us a good day, one by one. We probably replied a hundred “Ohayoo gozaimasu” back to them.

On our way to our next accommodation (more than 20km walking distance), we were stopped twice in two different occasions by two japanese men wanting to help us showing a “better path” to the next temple. Both of them carefully explained an alternative route through the mountains instead of the normal route (which is on the road, through tunnels). They said that on the top of the mountain we would have a very nice view from the ocean 🌊 and it would be worth the extra effort.

They were absolutely right! After hiking up this alternative route, we were presented to an astonishing view of the ocean! There was even a swing there! It’s not everyday that you find yourself on a swing on the top of the mountain with an ocean view 😊! And we couldn’t have chosen a better day to see the ocean for the first time during this pilgrimage: the day was gorgeous, sunny and warm. On the top of the mountain we also met and had a nice chat with a japanese girl (Maya) who was walking the Henro with her mother. She lives in Shikoku and invited us to visit her after we finish our pilgrimage!

The last kilometers along the coast were a bit exhausting (today we walked a total of 32km), but we arrived at our accommodation right before 5pm, which means that we had more than 10 hours hiking today!

Bruno 🐒