Day 3: 88 Temples - Kamiyama (11,12)

Still waking up at before I want to, but I got a good sleep last night.  We were down at breakfast at 6 with all the Henro, but the last to leave.  Most seemed to be forwarding their bags.


100 meters up the road we stopped at a vending machine for some hot coffee.  Another 100 meters we were given a persimmon as Osettai by a guy who ran a Henro information booth.  He bade us into the area he had set up and told us about some web sites and the route ahead.  I read about this guy some where and guiding Henro is what he does.


Another 100 meters and we where at Temple 11.  So far, a slow start.  After our temple stuff we exited out the backside and immediately began a steep assent.  From 11 to 12 is only 12km but it takes at least 5 hours.  It is a lot of steep climbing.  I was sweating ... a lot!


The scenery was spectacular and it was a beautiful day.  The sun was out but we were cool on the shaded path.  There was forecast for rain starting at 1pm but it was a beautiful day.


After about 3 hour we stopped at a Henro rest building and ate our nigiri - rice balls wrapped in seaweed with a little dollop of salty pickled stuff inside.


We climbed two peaks and walked down to a river.  It was starting to get overcast and the weather got worst from then on.  After that was the final steep climb to the Temple.  It was long, hard and steep.  Near the top there was fancy stone carved railing and a path to the temple.


We made it to 12 but were tired and starting to hurt.  12 is a nice temple in a very isolated place.  


After 12 we still had 9km to our ryokan.  Fortunately we descended a different route than what we came up.  At the river again we took stock and we had just under 3 hours before dark to walk what Google Maps said was a just under 3 hours walk.


We joined a trail that went straight up for 400 meters over 2km through the woods.  It was steep and a little treacherous in places.  At the top we joined a paved road which we would be in the rest of the way.  There was a Henro rest area at the top and we took a little break. It started raining lightly but it didn't last long.  The rest of the way was downhill, but steep enough we had to fight it.  We were tired.  My feet hurt and I could feel a few blisters coming out and Mike's knee was hurting him a lot.


Finally, we reached the river and our ryokan just a few minutes before dark.  Showers, dinner and our laundry done for us.


So tired, sorry for the lack of interesting things ... enjoy the pictures.




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