Day Fifteen: The Ocean and Uwajima, Temples 39, 40
Weather: Another broiling, beautiful day, with surprise showers (four of them).
A late start, 8 am, but I nevertheless covered 110 km. to Uwajima by 7pm.
Dinner was so good that I wanted to eat breakfast also at the minshuku I was staying in on the tip of the Cape, so rather than leave at my usual time, I stayed till 7 am when it was served. Well worth the wait, a traditional Japanese breakfast of broiled small whitefish, rice, tofu and tea. Nice! But I missed not having coffee. No matter; after loading up and saying goodbye, I hit up the nearest combini for one, and headed around the corner of Cape Ashizuri.
The road is lovely here, almost as nice as the approach on the east side of the cape; a small, often one-lane, cliffside highway, winding around on the side of the mountains 50 metres off the water, often tree shaded, with sudden views of the ocean to the south.
Forty minutes into my ride, I saw a beautiful, dying butterfly on the sidewalk right near where the route 347 cuts across the tip of the cape, in a town called Shimizu.
A bit further on, I decided to try to cut inland to the next temple, number 39, Enkoji. It looked as if taking route 28, switching to 344, then cutting left on 21 to where it meets the major route 56 cutting across the peninsula would bring me almost to the door of Enkoji. On the map it has a kind of certainty I find often vanishes in the small streets of the villages, and the hills. Any way I turned right, inland, at a small village. A local, when asked, told me I had to go a little bit west, then cut in to get there. So I followed some tiny streets west to the next, sort of major street running north, and followed it. In a couple of blocks I was out of the village, cycling along a lovely stream I assumed was the Soro-gawa.
The road, twisting, quiet, rose gently through a small, narrowing valley of farms and woodlots. I decided I didn’t care if I got to Enkoji quickly or not, this was wonderful!
The road, though still paved, also got very small, as they often seem to when they hit the hills, and sported a few turnoffs not marked on my maps. Interestingly, my confidence at this point was much greater than earlier in the trip; I knew I was going generally in the right direction, so it was ok! I found I was much less worried about getting lost. I found a lovely roadside monument.
A few cars passed, the drivers curious. I smiled and waved, and kept going up. Just as I was beginning to conclude I really was totally lost, I hit what was obviously the top of the small pass I had been climbing, and coasted down, the new valley rapidly opening up to more farms. Half an hour later I was at route 56, Enkoji only a couple of kilometres to the left and up the hill. It was lovely countryside.
Enkoji's main gate.
The distance from temple 38 to 39 in my map book is set at about 53 kilometres; one of the three walking routes shown follows the exact route I took, leaving the roads only in the last kilometre or so. I did not see any arukihenro, however.
Leaving Enkoji, at the junction of 56, I met the two bike henro I’d seen the day before. I told them I would see them at the next temple, Kanjizaiji, but I felt that I was moving much faster at this point than they were, so... I probably wouldn’t.
My route took me down highway 56 to Sukumo, and north along the shoreline to Misho. Just outside of Sukumo, I found this dead cat on the sidewalk.
Temple 40, Kanjizaiji is sited in downtown Misho. The distance from 39 to 40: 26 kilometres or so.
An octagonal shrine.
Temple graveyard.
Leaving Misho, I continued north along the ocean to Uchiumi, then inland and over a pass into Uwajima. Along the way, some wonderful ocean views, and a large exposure of black shale. I checked it for fossils but came away disappointed.
Just before turning inland I found a wonderful surprise along one of the long tunnels: a large bike and pedestrian tunnel! If I recall, it was just over 1 kilometre long. What luxury, not worrying about having an elbow removed by a logging truck. Two days later, near Kuma, I almost did have one taken off.
A few kilometres past Uchiumi, I discovered a large camping park (not so common in Japan) called Nanrakuen Park. It looked like a great place to hang out.
I ran into two young cycling henro, riding fast, and I rode fast just behind them, just because it felt good, passing them as they stopped to rest. I kept expecting them to pass me again going down into Uwajima but didn’t see them.
I reached Uwajima and found a small downtown hotel by about 7:30. The manager seemed quite reserved, but willing to accommodate me. I nicked out after a shower to pick up some combini bento. It was a long but very rewarding day.
