Day 39: 88 Temples (none) - Shikokuchuo

Expectations for today were low.  After yesterday's busy road walk we were anticipating much of the same.  It was not to be the case.

We needed to make the 8:14 bus which would pick us up just around the corner from the Super Hotel.  It was clear, sunny and crisp.  Perfect for walking.

The bus wound through town a bit and then followed the busy road we saw from the bus yesterday.  The map show that most of the day we would be walking parallel to this road but would be on it at the start.  We got off the bus one stop before where we got on yesterday.

We started walking in bright sunshine.  We were already out of the town and traffic noise was the only issue walking along the busy road.

After 4km we moved on to a parallel road.  What a difference 50 meters makes.  We were on a quiet street with houses. The sun was shining.  It was a great walk.

At about 10km we had a snack break at 7-11.  No question 7-11 has inferior chicken, sandwiches and coffee to both FamilyMart and Lawson.

We did have an incident with another Henro.  He had dumped all his stuff on one of the two snack counter chairs and disappeared.  We had all of our food and one chair.  When he reappeared he realized he had been a bad Henro, apologized and scurried out.  I'm not sure if was was intending to eat at the counter but he was too embarrassed to stick around.  Hey, don't feel bad, we steal sushi!

The rest of the day continued to be nice walking.  The last few kilometers were on a very wide sidewalk beside a 4 lane divided road.  We haven't seen too many if these here.  The sidewalk was nice although I did have to duck a few extremely old cyclists.  They were riding faster than we were walking, but not by much.

We were very happy with the route today.  It was quite pleasant; that was a surprise after yesterday and the bus rides along the busy road.

Back at the hotel we did a little planning ahead and saw we could stay two nights at the next Super Hotel.  We went down to the desk and they booked it for us.  Two more Super Hotel nights, yeah!

Dinner was another adventure.  Tonight we weren't bad gaijin, we just needed a little help.  We selected a place (it was close) across the street not really know what kind of restaurant it was.  Google said it was an okonomi place.  Good, we like okonomi ... it's a pancake with stuff in it.  

Walking in we realized it was a family restaurant - not quite Chucky Cheese - and we were some of the very few without kids.  We did get a table with a large fry area immediately.  We ordered a couple of okonomi and a few other items.  Usually, at okonomi they cook it at your table.  Here they bring the raw ingredients to your table and walk away.  We looked so helpless one of the servers made our Hiroshima style okonomi.  It was far too complicated for us.  I cooked the cold soup dumplings.  Dumplings and okonomi number one were good and tasty.

Okonomi number two was much simpler and with a few acted out instructions I felt confident to cook it.  It turned out pretty well.  We were happy and full.  Our beer was nearly half our bill ... Henro need to stay hydrated.