• Shikoku 88 Day 3
• Temple 12 – 17
• 58.6km with 805m of elevation gain

Moja made me a delicious breakfast and I was on the bike by 7:45. It was chilly and jacket weather but that seemed a lot better than heat. I haven’t been feeling so good with a sore throat and bit of a cold but my stomach was feeling a bit better.

This morning’s route took me further down the river, then along through Kamiyama township before I turned up towards temple number 12 Shōsanji 焼山寺. It was a bit chilly this morning so jacket weather.

Near the bottom where the road really starts to climb is a popular guest house which had been full last night. They were happy to look after my pannier bags so I set off feeling a lot lighter!

It got steep very quickly, and I ended up pushing early on which gave my hamstrings a break at least. It was short lived and with plenty of stops, a lot of sweat, and some positive self talk I was really proud to finally make it to the top! The huge but very empty car park had some blossom and maple trees nearby, and there was a cool breeze. The pathway to the temple was picturesque and my legs enjoyed the warm down from the ride. There were some beautiful trees in the grounds and after praying and taking some photos I got a hot tea from the vending machine on the way to the stamp office. The man there was impressed I’d made it up by bike and wished me well.

The descent was fun and without incident and I made good time back to Kamiyama and a convenience store for an early lunch. A hot steamed bun with red bean paste filling really hit the spot.

After lunch there were some climbs and it warmed up a bit. I headed confidently downhill into my second tunnel, thinking it seemed very dark even with my lights on. I realised I’d forgotten to take off my sunglasses! A gentle downhill continued and I hustled along, keen to get back into Tokushima city early enough to get to a bike shop. It didn’t seem to be moving through the gears so well today and from tomorrow it would be a while until the next big city.

I saw a lot of walking pilgrims both Japanese and international and enjoyed greeting them as I passed. As I was zooming along, temple 13 Dainichiji 大日寺seemed to come out of nowhere. It was right on the route 21 road, directly opposite a shrine. I screeched to a halt, realising I’d missed the car park and the road was pretty narrow. It felt like the traffic-accident-waiting-to-happen temple! As I entered and put my bag down, a European woman was intently describing how a pheasant-like bird had attacked her on one of the forest trails and tried to claw at her face, to a slightly disbelieving but concerned younger man. Apparently her stick didn’t help fight it off but she recited some Buddhist sutras and that did the trick. There certainly are all sorts of people on this journey. I talked about my Japanese study with the kind woman in the stamp office and she gave me some sweets.

At Jōrakuji 常楽寺 I noticed some new bus friends, and put my bouldering skills to use approaching the main hall. The sun came out and it was hot again. I tried to keep eating and drinking although I wasn’t feeling so flash again.

Kokubunji 国分寺 was next and I realised that the bus group were all chanting their sutras together while standing in various different places. It was rhythmic and beautiful to listen to. It was also here I learnt that while they do that, their guides take their nōkyōchō or pilgrimage books to the stamp office who work through the pile. Some people choose a scroll, and as I watched the tour guide use a hair dryer on the wet ink on the scroll I wondered if they carry one around for this purpose?

We met again at Kannonji 観音寺 and laughed about bus and bike being roughly the same speed when all the temples are close together. I enjoyed listening to their chanting again. The stamp office had a hair dryer plugged in and waiting for those with scrolls.

Finally I arrived at number 17 Idoji 井戸寺 – my last temple for the day. Just as I was finishing up I heard a familiar voice and it was Lin from Taiwan who had  been at Moja’s House last night. We chatted and took some photos together which was a nice way to finish a long day.

Getting back to central Tokushima city seemed to take forever despite being only 6km. The central hotel had a shared parking lot with the shopping centre and I headed off as directed to park my bike, thinking it was odd I had to go through the scooter gates. Leaving I realised there was a bicycle gate, so explained at check in. They were very kind, as was the woman helping me when I then had to phone phone from the gates, but understanding how these automatic gates and the ticket machine worked and what I should do as people queued up behind me was stressful. I didn’t think it would be bicycle parking that broke me first but there you go!

After some deep breaths I went to the cycle shop close by and the staff were helpful and so kind. As they took the cassette off the back wheel we realised bits of white fluffy stuff seemed to be wound around deep between the sprockets. To my horror I realised it was bits of my hat string that had unraveled a little when I’d untied it from the bike rack. I’d been so careful to make sure it couldn’t get caught up in the wheel but somehow I’d dropped it. The man laughed and reminded me of the important phrases on the hat while insisting there was no charge, and wishing me well. I safely reparked my bike with correct ticket through the correct entrance, but ordered too much for dinner at Matsuya, felt sick then tossed and turned all night. It had been a big day and there is another to get through tomorrow before a short day 5.