Shikoku Pilgrimage Part 2 - Heading for Kanonji

What?
The Shikoku Pilgrimage (四国遍路) crosses the whole island, passing 88 temples, just as it is told that Kobo Daishi (弘法大師), the founder of Shingon Buddhism did. The local Economic Research Institute has partitioned the pilgrimage in several two to three day walking routes to make it a little bit more accessible for foreign tourists. I was invited to test route 7: the area associated with Kobo Daishi, spanning from temple nr. 65 (Sankakuji 三角寺) to nr. 75 (Zentsuji 善通寺). This second day will see me climb Mount Unpenji (雲辺寺山 927m) to reach temple nr. 66 (Unpenji 雲辺寺). Heading for Kanonji City (観音寺) on the coastline, I will pass temple nr. 67 (Daikoji 大興寺), nr. 68 (Jinnein 神恵院) and nr. 69 (Kannonji 観音寺).
Where?
I walked one day to the starting point in Tokushima Prefecture (徳島県), but it is possible to get there by taking a bus from Awa-Ikeda Station (阿波池田駅), but these are few and far in between. Alternitavely and a little bit more lazily, it’s possible to get to Unpenji temple by cablecar. The end point of this second day will be near Kanonji Station (観音寺駅) on the JR Yosan Station (JR予讃線) in Kagawa Prefecture (香川県).
URL
Shikoku Henro Trail

Not so very long ago I was physically at my top. I lost 15 kilos of unnecessary body weight, I gained basic muscle mass and my condition was at the best point since at least 15 years.
But after continuous shoulder and back complaints I am at a point where I don’t really know what my body can still do.

Yesterday’s walk was a breeze though. No physical issues, no problems along the way, not even tired!
So why am I - as I write this - hoping that my feet will be able to guide me another day tomorrow despite the blisters on my left foot sole ?

Well, I am not the one to underestimate a 927 meter tall mountain.
But still I have to admit that the ascent was steeper than I had anticipated. It was fun though. The path followed a mountain trail most of the time, which is easier to walk than asphalted road, and as a rule I am just a little more comfortable going up than down.
Arriving at the top I visited the temple, had my book stamped and took a closer look at what must be hundreds of life sized statues of deities, all with very peculiar expressions. I really liked them all, also because it was still morning and therefor cool, and the nearby mountaintop park lifted my spirits as I saw the clouds slowly drift apart. I also climbed the 70 meters tall Bishamonten observatory , which makes that the top of the mountains now clocks at exactly 1km.

It was in this good mood that I started the descent. Again, until the foot of the mountain I would follow a mountain path which initially made me quite happy. But the descent took longer than I expected. At first I thought it must have been my imagination, but at temple nr. 67, Daikoji, a fellow pilgrim told me the exact same thing. In normal circumstances it wouldn’t bother me, but the day before I had been so stupid to get my left feet rid of some hard earned calluses. It sounds gross, I know, but new young flesh that appeared from under that rock hard layer of skin clearly wasn’t ready yet for the descent. Nor for what would come next.

Making my way through the beautiful forest.

Guiding you all along the way.

Clouds decide to leave the mountain.

This fellow makes sure the mountain tops at 1km.

The way from the foot of Mount Unpenji until my end destination temple nr. 69 Kanonji was a long, long , looooooong stretch of asphalt. Until temple nr. 67 Daikoji it was still fine as the road led me through that picturesque rural life that I love so much. After Daikoji however, the pilgrimage gets stranded again in a tiresome walk along a national route, all the way up until temple nr. 68 Jinnein. In fact, nr. 68 and nr. 69 are located at the same spot due to some interesting piece of history. Jinnein was originally located at the heart of a Shinto-shrine, which isn’t unusual at all in Japan. However, at a certain point it was ruled that the different religions should be clearly divided, and so Jinnein had to start its own buddhist office, but it immediately went bankrupt. The nearby Kannonji - willingly or not - took in its unfortunate neighbor and that’s why the two temples are now located at the same spot.

These two temples signaled the end of my day, but right behind it lay the Zenigata Sunae sand sculpture which I already visited last year. My hotel for the night lay past the sculpture though, so I did a small detour to see it again.

So now I’m at my hotel, taking care of my ruined and rather stinky feet in the hope they’ll take me where I want to go tomorrow.
In the meanwhile I can let them cool down - or more correctly warm up - in the nearby Kotohiki Kairo onsen.