Temple 11 - Fujiidera - Day 3
Trip Start
Sep 01, 2010
1
27
64
Trip End
Jan 18, 2011
Kamojima, Tokushima, Japan
Monday, September 20, 2010
There was an old rusted digger by the side of a little used road. The ground was still too hard to drive pegs in but we were able to support the tent using the guy ropes tied off to the diggers arm.
The ground below was horribly bumpy, Jonny had to sleep in hole! and in the night we were attacked! (or at least investigated) by wild Boar. Simo was way more courageous than Jonny and went outside in the night - but then she did really need to pee!!
It wasn't the best nights sleep, but we woke up early enough to put in a good shift towards Temple 11 whilst it was still cool. We headed back down he lane we'd come up, and then into Awa city. After walking through built up areas for a while the buildings thinned into some lovely farmland with a great variety of crops that was actually very pleasant to walk through.
After this we then had to cross the Yoshino-gawa river by a small one lane bridge. It was such a lovely picturesque river that we took quite a number of pictures, and it was a lovely experience to walk across, and then alongside it for a bit.
Temple 11 - Fujiidera - was founded in 815 by Kukai, but the main buildings were pretty much all rebuilt in 1860, and there was also a lot of building when we got there. The route to Temple 11 after the river is a little confusing, through a very built up and not very pretty part of Yoshinogawa city, and also it seems much longer than the signposts indicate! By the time we actually got to Temple 11 we were pondering whether to go onwards to Temple 12, but this walk, and the fact that Temple 11 was actually pretty disappointing when we got there, had a big part to play in our deciding to stop here. Temple 12 is supposed to be very nice, but it's also supposed to be one of the harder ones to reach with a thirteen kilometer walk uphill all the way.
So this was the end of our pilgrim journey - for now, maybe we'll come back and go onwards from Temple 11 again as its perfectly acceptable to do the pilgrimage in parts. We left our walking sticks at the temple exit, and then walked back through the city to Yoshinogawa train station to continue our Japanese journey.
The experience of walking through Shikoku, and the openness and helpfulness of its people, has been the best part of doing this Pilgrim walk. We would advise anyone who wants to see Japan in a slightly different way to seriously consider doing this. Even if you only do three days, as we did, you will see a side of Japan you can't get anywhere else, and it will leave you wanting to come back and finish the job. (If you are reading this with an intention to do the pilgrim trail though I offer you one piece of advice - if you're going to walk it don't go in August or September! Atsui!)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dopo aver aspettato il tramonto al tempio nr.10, siamo andati alla ricerca di un angolino dove piazzare la nostra tenda, ma a quanto pare il terreno qui in zona e' tutto roccioso e non c'e' modo di far entrare i picchietti nel suolo!! L'unica opzione disponibile e' stata quella di legare i lacci della tenda ad una vecchia escavatrica che abbiamo trovato al bordo di una strada in disuso.
Jonny ha praticamente dormito in un buco e durante la notte siamo stati attaccati dai cinghiali (bugia), va bene erano solo curiosi e sono venuti a farci visita diverse volte nell'arco della notte. La prima volta Jonny mi ha svegliata e spaventato mi ha chiesto...ma cosa sono? Lupi?!?
Poverino....
Alle sei di mattina eravamo gia' in piedi e pronti per partire! La camminata per il tempio nr.11 e' stata molto piacevole durante le ore piu' fresche, ma dopo le 10:00 il caldo ha cominciato a farsi risentire.
Il tempio nr.11 - Fujidera - e' stato fondato da Kukai nel 815, ma il tempio principale e' stato ricostruito nel 1860. Ai piedi del Fujidera parte la scalata di 13 chilometri per il tempio nr.12, che a quanto pare e' uno dei piu' duri da raggiungere e la via e' assai ardua! Abbiamo cosi deciso di fermarci qui, l'11 e' un buon numero ed ora siamo esattamente ad un ottavo dei templi da visitare. Chissa' magari un giorno torneremo per terminare la nostra avventura da Henro.
Abbiamo lasciato i nostri bastoni all'uscita dal tempio e dopo un paio di chilometri nella stassa direzione in cui siamo arrivati, siamo arrivati alla stazione, dove un treno ci portera' a scoprire il resto dell'isola di Shikoku.
L'esperienza di camminare attraverso l'isola di Shikoku e la generosita' delle persone locali sono state la parte che ci hanno fatto apprezzare di piu' questo pellegrinaggio. Consigliamo a chiunque voglia vedere un lato differente del Giappone di cosiderare seriamente questo pellegrinaggio, anche se solo per tre giorni come abbiamo fatto noi, questa esperienza vi lasciera' qualcosa che non trovereste da nessun'altra parte. Detto questo, se avete intenzione di fare questo pellegrinaggio camminando, evitare i mesi piu' caldi!!
