Author: Linda

Baths – March 21, 2019

  • Thursday, March 21, 2019 – Day 8
  • Temples #23 Muroto City, Japan
  • Weather: 40-55 degrees & overcast
  • Miles 7.5 / 86 Miles

Many accommodations offer public baths, a rich opportunity to soak chin deep in hot water. Men and women have separate baths. First shower for cleanliness. Then soak in a hot bath. A second bath has ice cold water so you can cycle between hot and cold…Naked of course. Can there be a better way to end the day?

Today Naomi and I went to Sea Rest Muroto, a public onsen (public bath) on the beach. An outside hot salt-springs bath slowly roasted the body chin to the toes while the cool sea breeze refreshed the face. A combination of whirlpool and salt water gave buoyancy to legs and arms. An indoor hot bath without salt offered a different feel to the skin. The natural spring hot baths are valued for their mineral content as being healthy.

There is a wonderful mixture of people at the onsen. Some people in business attire popping in after work, adults bringing and caring for aged parents, retired folks. There is a balance of community gathering and quiet time.

  1. Showers
  2. Hot bath
  3. Hot and cold baths with garden view

Temple #21 – March 20, 2019

  • Wednesday, March 20, 2019, Day 7
  • Temples #20 and #21
  • Katsuura Town, Japan
  • Weather: 40-55 degrees with blur skies with white clouds
  • Miles 6 / 78.5 Miles

Temple #21 at 1,640 feet elevation has magnificent views with glimpses of the ocean and Temple #20. A ten-minute Ropeway (gondola) delivers me to tonight’s accommodations.

  1. Gate
  2. Kōbō Daishi
  3. Main Temple
  4. Ropeway

Pancakes with Bean Paste – March 18, 2019

  • Monday, March 18, 2019/Brother’s Birthday, Day 5
  • Temples #14, #15, ,#16, #17, #18
  • Tokushima City, Japan
  • Weather: 32-45 degrees
  • 16.7 Miles / 61.7 Miles

How would you make a better Hostess Twinkie in Japan? A simple conveyor machine containing individual mini-cake pans is filled with pancakes batter, topped with a drop of sweetened bean paste, and finished with a final layer of batter.

The shop had a line of people out the door picking up boxes of treats. We waited 45-minutes and it was worth the wait.

How’s it taste? It tastes like the lightest, fluffiest American pancake crisp on the outside and soft on the inside. The filling is tasty with a hint of sweetness and the texture is creamy.

  1. Pans being cleaned and filled
  2. Flipped pancakes are cooking on the bottom
  3. Danes Anna and Sif enjoying pancakes.

Temple Patterns – March 18, 2019

  • Monday, March 18, 2019 / Brother’s Birthday, Day 5
  • Temples #14, #15, ,#16, #17, #18
  • Komatsushima City, Japan
  • Weather: 32-45 degrees,
  • 16.7 Miles / 61.7 Miles

Patterns are quickly determined at each Buddhist Temple as they are uniformly composed of the same six elements. Temple Gate, Water Bath, Temple Bell, Main Temple, Kobo Daishi’s Temple and Office for marking stamp books. It is with purpose I move between each Temple lighting incense sticks, candles, offering prayer slips and donations. The I sit taking in the beauty and being at peace.

  1. Temple #15 Temple Gate with Sif from Denmark
  2. Temple #15 Kobo Daishi
  3. Temple #14 Water Bath Guarded by Dragons