Day 12 -

After we had walked for a while, we came across an Ohenro Rest Area. We decided that it was time for a break, so we stopped. We removed our packs and started talking with another Pilgrim who was already there. As we talked, more and more Pilgrims arrived. By the time we left, there were six other Pilgrims there, besides the two of us. We saw most of them through out the day. We would pass them and then they would pass us. It depended on a combination of how fast we walked and when we took breaks.

As we continued along the shore, the scenery remained beautiful. It is too bad that the weather was so bad.

This apparently was the old road. In some places the traces of it remained and there were either short stretches of pavement that went no where or structures like this that had no access or egress.
Occasionally, we came across small Shinto shrines or little buildings containing a Buddhist statue. This picture shows a building with statue, but we did not stop to investigate it in detail.
Looking back at one point, I realized how far we had walked. We had gone around the point that you can barely see in the distance in the middle of the picture.

Day 12 - Walking along the coast

Shortly after the shrine, we crossed a beautiful river.
The Henro Trail cut back inland just a bit and followed an older road, letting us see some old farm houses which were arrayed in picturesque little groups.
As we went up this hill, we were amused by the name of the next town - None Fishing Port. Actually, in Japanese, it is pronounced /no-nay/.
We returned to the main road and followed the coast line for many kilometers. The scenery was outstanding.
Both Ian and I wanted to take a long break down on one of the beaches but there was no time for it.

Day 12 - Starting out

This is the Michishio Lodge where we had spent the night as it looked as we left in the morning. My room was behind the second floor window on the right, Ian's in the back right corner. The bath where I almost boiled myself was also on the second floor, in the front left corner.
The Entrance to Hell. This tunnel seemed like it must lead to the underworld, it was so dark and threatening looking. However, we passed through without incident.
This is another example of the effects of the economic problems in the area. At some time in the not too distant past, this had been a functioning gas station. Now, it was just a decaying building.
At one one point the Henro Trail left the main road for about a half a kilometer and went inland to pass in front of a Shinto shrine. It looked like the place was well frequented but I could not figure out by whom. This stretch of the coast had steep hills going right down to the beach. The road was cut into the sides of the hills so there was no place for buildings. In other words, there did not seem to be anyone living in the area.
The shrine had a very nice little garden beside it. It appear, except for the banners and things, almost like it was just a natural part of the landscape, but closer inspection showed that it was actually reasonably carefully cared for

Day 11 - Some final comments

I just realized that I forgot to include a couple of comments in yesterday's entry.

Because it was so wet and rainy, the woman who ran the place started the bath early. She told us that it would be ready in about half an hour. It was a small bath for only one person at a time. This is in contrast to most of the places where we stayed. Sometimes up to 10 or 12 could use the bath at the same time - more like a swimming pool than a bathtub. Anyway, Ian and I decided that I would go first. After about 35 minutes I walked down to the other end of the floor and, after checking two other small baths, found one with the water running, overflowing, actually. I turned off the water and then undressed in the outer dressing room. On entering the bath itself again, I found a shower and quickly washed myself, anticipating the pleasure of soaking in the hot water. Luckily, when I stepped into the tub, I did so with my right foot, not my left with all the blisters. As the sole of my foot touched the bottom of the tub, I felt a searing pain. I pulled my leg out. It was bright red, so I turned on the cold water in the shower and directed it to my leg. As the pain gradually disappeared, I gingerly touched the surface of the water. It must have been about 50 degrees Celsius. The tip of my finger turned red. Turning on the cold water tap in the tub, I ran it full blast for about 15 minutes before it was down to a reasonable temperature. All the while I stood there naked and wet and getting colder by the minute. Eventually I was able to get in and soak - it was wonderful.

The other thing I meant to tell you about was the lodge and the owners. As you could see from yesterday's pictures, there was a beautiful beach just outside the lodge. It was in a group of about five lodges that all catered to the surfing crowd. In fact the owner and his wife were surfers, who had gotten married and had a child. They said that they still went surfing whenever their duties allowed them a little free time. The lodge itself was specially build and just off to the side of the entrance there was a room with showers for washing wetsuits and a place to dry them. We had left our rain gear hanging in this room, when we arrived. There was also a restaurant that they ran. We had coffee and then lunch there when we first came. The husband was cook and the wife was the waitress. The same arrange applied to our evening meal - he cooked it and she brought it to our rooms.