After Miniami-Cho it was time to hit the coastline and head down to the eastern peninsula, Muroto Cape. I took the train down the coast and then switched to a bus that went all the way down to the cape. There are three temples on the cape itself. First is temple 24, Hotsumisakiji. There is a large hill that over looks the coast line with a lighthouse on it. I accidentally went up the way you go down which is this very steep winding road, luckily the top was shaded with lots of trees.
I saw a couple of people knock on this stone. I am not sure what it was, but it looked neat.
The view of the other side.
Kobo Daishi looming over
This view is of the west side of the cape. I would walk up this whole thing to Kochi.
Sadly this was the only temple with a view of the coast. After, I walked up the coast to temple 25, Shinshoji. This temple surprised me because while it looks like it is in the middle of town it is actually on a steep hill. You walk down into this neighborhood and then there are stairs. And then more stairs. I was expecting something just in town that I could walk into, but I was mistaken. This temple had a cool fountain that was motion activated. When you got close, the dragon would start spilling water out of its mouth into the basin of water. I thought I was seeing things at first when I approached and it just started.
There was an older henro that I met up with at his temple. We had seen each other here and there, but we had finally stopped at the same temple. It is nice to see other doing the journey. Even if most days your by your self most of the time, it is nice knowing others are walking the same route as you.
The last temple of the day was temple 26, Kongochoji. I was actually going to do this the next day as my lodging was near, but I dropped my stuff off and took it on. Boy am I glad I did. This was the first temple that I had done with out my full pack. Again, on the map it looks like it is fairly close to the place I was lodging, but I was proven wrong. This temple turned out to be a 45 minute hike up a steep hill. Some of the paths were just complete chiseled rock. Totally took me off guard. It was pretty cloudy that day so when I reached the temple it was a little creepy. There is something about a ancient place being empty and overcast that puts off an odd vibe. On my way down I ran into my old henro friend from before. I gave him 150 yen as a gift and told him it was for something to drink. I hope I got it across that it was for something like water or a sports drink from the vending machine instead of alcohol haha I did this gesture a few times to people when I saw them after tough climbs and hoped they understood.
Some of these posts are mismatched with pictures as I sometimes do not have my camera with me if I drop my stuff off somewhere before I head out (which was the plan from today on forward if able) so for any temples that are not shown in picture form, you can head over to my instagram to check the ones I take on my phone.
Cheers!~