Matsuyama to Imbari City, 40.5 km
For three consecutive nights we’ve been forced to adjust our plans as the usual pilgrim accommodations are unavailable – full in the big cities, and unavailable due to the festival in the smaller towns. Today is the second of the three, and ideally we’d like to have stayed in Onishi, about 26 km from our previous hotel, but we had to find something in Imbari – and out of if town at that. Therefore to ease the strain on the boys various ailments, I left early to continue my quest to walk the entire route. The boys checked out as late as possible and took the train to Onishi. And for the third time where the walkers and transit riders have planned to meet, we arrived at exactly the same time, which is a wee bit freaky. I walked 26 km in 5 1/4 hours and got to the Onishi train station just as the train pulled in!
My walk was a good one for the boys to miss, with busy roads – sometimes with minimal sidewalks – and only one relatively pleasant climb through the hills with a view to the coast: Scenes from my coastal stroll:
After we connected, and as I was still feeling reasonably fresh, we continued the walk from Onishi to Imbari City, visiting temples along the way. Enmeiji ((#54) was a pleasant oasis after hours of playing in the traffic. It’s bell, cast in 1704, has apparently been stolen several times, but each time the bell rang of its own accord, so the thieves returned it. Nankōbō (#55) is in downtown Imbari, and is a rather sad complex compared to others. The area is very small, and for some inexplicable reason they have placed the car park between the main gate and the temple. The original temple was destroyed during WWII, which doesn’t help give the temple complex any feel of being old. We also visited Taisanji (#56) as we had to head in that general direction to get to our hotel. Again the temple looks very new, although legend has it being established in 815m. For sure the rock retaining walls are much more recent!
As we walked from T56 towards our hotel, Max did some sleuthing and discovered that I’d inadvertently booked one of the famous (or infamous perhaps) Japanese love hotels. And judging by the reviews he found, it seems that we’re not the first pilgrims to make that mistake. Fortunately when we arrived there was a member of staff, otherwise we’d have had trouble getting to in, as the usual protocol is to phone to get your room number as the usual clientele want their privacy. We have neither a phone that works in Japan, nor the language skills to communicate on one even if we did! Max’s research also identified some issues, such as the doors being locked so that you have to phone the office to get released in the morning – presumably to stop people skipping out without paying. Some of the signage in the rooms Google translate might struggle with (but the photos seem self explanatory) and the cabinet of items you just might have forgotten to stow in your overnight bag probably don’t come with instructions, so translation is a moot point. At least it’s one night where we are spared a futon on a tatami mat! The bathroom is fantastic – big bath with jets and various lighting settings (the green lights were a bit reminiscent of the gross pond at the driving range, so I went with blue!) Of course now I understand why I couldn’t book a room for three, although given their line if business, you’d think there’d be no questions asked!
