• Shikoku 88 Day 2
• Temples 7 – 11
• 49.87 km with 399m of elevation gain
• Overall progress: 83.19km/1200km ish and 11/88 temples

I had a good sleep but it’s hard to sleep in once it gets light with sunrise at 5:30 ish. As I checked out the kind assistant who helped me yesterday said I seemed to have a beautiful heart. It was a nice way to start the day.

I headed a couple of kilometres back to Temple 7 where I saw my walking friend from yesterday, and noticed a new scooter companion praying in high vis.

Temple 8 Kumandanji 熊谷寺 had quite a few steps and I saw my first monkeys scampering across the path. My walking friends from yesterday greeted me and said they’re going to Temple 10 today.

As I was enjoying coasting gently downhill to the next stop (a definite advantage to cycling) coming the other way was a very enthusiastic reverse walker, who waved at me with both hands. He is finishing tomorrow! He seemed to have a lot of luggage and things dangling everywhere from his backpack but we had a cheerful chat.

Temple 9 Hōrinji 法輪寺 is surrounded by rice paddies and fields. It was small and cute, and meowing cats lounging in the sun greeted me. According to my guidebook, this is the temple for those with leg injuries! How perfect! At the main hall there were hundreds of pairs of tiny straw sandal left as offerings.

I asked the kind woman at the stamp office and she explained that once upon a time someone entered the temple on crutches and then suddenly their legs felt lighter and they could walk unaided. It was fine to buy a pair of sandals to offer, or keep them as a lucky charm and unique souvenir so I opted for the latter. I decided not to push my luck and attempt to skip out of the gate, but generally my knee has been feeling ok.

While I admired the beautiful stamp my Japanese walking friend came to chat. I learned she is from Niigata and enjoys the mountains and hiking. She said she doesn’t know much about religion but that it feels good for the heart to combine something like this with exercise. It was reassuring and I realised I’d been feeling self conscious assuming that the Japanese all know what they’re doing. She was worried about temple 12 and how I was planning to get there on a bike – the journey there is known as “henro korogashi” or a stumbling point because it’s high up in the mountains and includes a huge climb to get there. I’ve stumbled over the pronunciation of the word korogashi alone and while I do have a plan for going around to approach from a slightly better road, it will still be a big challenge.

Speaking of steep, the tenth temple Kirihataji 切幡寺 had so many stairs, oh my goodness! I left my bike at Sumotoriya – a shop for pilgrimage goods and went up on foot with hiking poles, opting for the driveway over the steps where I could. It was compact with a lovely bell which reverberated for ages. I ran into the Spanish couple I’d helped with interpreting yesterday and helped today by calling out a “sumimasen” in the stamp office. They’re now driving a rental car and it crossed my mind later I should have got their details in case I need to plead for a lift at some stage!

At Fujidera 藤井寺 the wisteria wasn’t yet in full bloom, and an elderly bent over woman explained how to ring the bell which had no string. A young male monk did my 11th stamp – quite the contrast to the previous temple where I think the woman might have been in her late eighties.

All the temples for today were done but I headed off after a quick snack aware I still had quite a bit of distance to cover. The clouds looked ominous, and sure enough it began to drizzle, then rain. The water was dripping down my far as I pulled into a convenience store to get dinner supplies before turning up into the hills towards Kamiyama. The climb wasn’t so bad and I survived my first tunnel without incident, although they are just as deafening as everyone says.

After heading back downhill I turned off to follow a river. The rain had eased, most hung about the hills and the road signs were reassuring but gradually the road narrowed and it started to seem very isolated. Each time I began to panic, there was a pocket of houses and even this unusual sight:

Eventually I arrived in the patch of houses where tonight’s guest house should be, but there were no signs and nothing looked particularly likely. I followed Google maps and pushed my bike up the small driveways and paths, planning to ask someone. No one appeared but eventually I heard voices and geese. Yelling sumimasen at the top of my voice, Moja (of Moja’s House) popped out and I actually was in the right place. I parked my bike next to the noisy geese and got settled in.

The 150 year old house had two tatami rooms for travellers, and I shared with two Japanese women just a little older than me while Lin a Taiwanese walking pilgrim was in the other. He was friendly and chatty, and turned out to be the same age as me. He showed me the big scroll he’s getting stamped along the way. Another couple joined us for dinner, and the four Japanese woman had all volunteered for a couple of years in Zambia. Although my introvert batteries were running a little low they were all lovely and we enjoyed talking about travel.

I was pretty tired but it had been a good day discovering that riding in the rain wasn’t so bad, tunnels are doable, and becoming comfortable with being in the wop wops and trusting my navigation. I have a plan for Temple 12 tomorrow and feel cautiously optimistic I can get there.