Car Hopping

May 23 (2.63 walk, 131km drive)

As I was having breakfast, another Henro woman was too. She didn’t speak any English so we just kept our heads down and ate.
The Smiling Lady said Ju Ichi Ban and indicated to the other woman. She was telling me that she was also going to Temple 11 and that she had arranged for me to go with her if I wanted. I said Arigato then the other Henro went to her room to pack.

I already had my bag ready with me so I quickly checked my emails. I was pleased to see mail from David Ollen, the Incense link, who gave me some very good advice and an address and name of a Master in Osaka.
Yay!
I wasn’t sure if it would lead to anything but I felt good that I had a potential option for when I finished the Pilgrimage.

My Henro Guido came down and we went out to the carpark to her little van. I found out she was only going as far as Temple 21 today but I thought I could figure out what to do to get to Temple 22 later in the day.
As she was rearranging her car for me, another Henro woman who I recognized from the day before also came out and was loading her car up beside us. I asked her how far she was going today. She said in halted English Temple 22. My eyes lit up and I asked if she would mind if I tagged along with her. She said she would like that.

I then had to explain to The Lady and the other Henro woman that I would go with Mayumi San so I could get to Temple 22 today. The Henro woman wasn’t fazed and just shrugged her shoulders but The Lady looked confused but didn’t have the English for clarity so just waved bemused as we all left.

Mayumi San was a happy cheerful person and I could tell we were going to have a great time. She also had GPS, so I knew I could relax too. I settled back feeling very cho psycho (sp? A phrase Makoto San had taught me that loosely meant very happy!)