Day 14 - Some final comments

In addition to our splendid room that I showed you in the last posting, there was a great lounge where we were able to watch the sumo tournament while waiting for supper. There was also a huge bath. I made a dumb mistake when I took my bath. Ian was watching sumo but I felt the need for a soak in the hot water, so I went back to our room from the lounge. I got my towel and stuff and went back through the lounge to the bath. I was looking back at the TV in the lounge when I saw the standard symbol for a bath. It was over a door and without paying further attention I went through, still trying to see what has happening in the sumo broadcast. Once I got inside, I turned and looked into the bath. I was standing in the dressing area and a large open door led to the bath itself, which was only a few meters away from where I was standing. There was only one person in the bath and I said to myself, "This is going to be nice!" It was then that I realized the person in the bath was a woman. I had walked into the women's bath. I quickly bowed deeply and back out. The doors to the baths were side by side. I went in the left door but should have taken the right one.

The evening meal was in keeping with the rest of the lodge - fantastic. We sat in chairs around large tables - 12 to a table. We each had many plates of various foods, but there were also large communal platters in the middle. Almost everyone else went for the sushi, which left the vegetables for me. Also no one seemed to want the fresh pineapple, so I was able to eat my fill. I thought that this was the best meal we had during the entire trip.

After supper, Ian and I went back to our room and got organized for tomorrow. One of the things we did was get out the maps to learn tomorrow's route. There was one place where the Henro Trail left the road and went up into the hills. The high point was about 100 meters and the trail looked like it might be quite rough. Ian wanted to take the trail, but I preferred the road. After some discussion we decided to part ways at the junction. I would follow the road along the shore and Ian would go up into the hills. We located a place where we could meet - a bus stop which would probably have a place to sit.

We went to bed early, having a 24 kilometer hike tomorrow. With my full stomach and the large quiet room, I expected to sleep extremely well.