Rice paddies are a fascination to me. They’re literally everywhere including in the middle of cities. There are often tall apartment buildings surrounded by them.
I have not seen one head of livestock in all the traveling I have done thus far. Not a single one. I wonder where Shikoku gets its meat from?
Its nice to be walking around not only in the sunshine but with shops being open now that Golden Week is over. Shops can be so obscure – and often look like someones front room in their house – which I suspect they are.
I finally heard back from David from Vodafone. He texted to say that all my texts are by prepay but it is a surcharge that goes on the account. He said he put $50 onto my prepay. I asked if that was going on to my account, if not, how did he want me to pay for it. He replied saying it was his gift to me from him and to stay well. I was textless!! The spontaneous generosity of people, especially since I had been on this trip, reminded me there was hope on this dysfunctional planet and to never give up.
I thanked David over and over and said I would say a prayer for him at the next temple.
I felt a bit bad today driving past all the walking Henro. I knew what a trek it was they were doing but I also know that each of our treks are different and today was just as arduous in other ways, as when I walk for 8 hours. Also – my money passed the half way mark so I have to be careful, getting as far as I can in one day to save on accomodation.
The drive on the bus to Temple 38 was a cliffhanger. We drove around a coast where, sometimes, the road was only as wide as the bus and I could see out my window directly into the ravine metres below.
Notice how close we are to the rail next to the window!At one point we stopped for a few minutes. I quickly guessed we were waiting for another bus to come the other way so it could get past.
When we arrived, the busdriver told me he would be departing back the way we came in 30 minutes so I ran to the Temple, did my thing and said a prayer for David, getting back with 10 minutes to spare. I ducked into a huge restaurant to eat something where there was a busload of Henro, who I recognised from the day before. I asked one sitting by himself what it was he was eating. He showed me on the menu so I ordered that.
As the bus Henro were leaving, they all said, jovially, hello and goodbye and one of the ladies asked me a few questions in English. She reminded me of the people I had been warned about who will stop an English person and insist on speaking English for practise (also to show off their prowess to those around them).
I could tell from her eyes that she was very kind though and made a fuss of her not-so-good English.
I finished my lunch just in time for the bus to leave...
No comments:
Post a Comment