May 3 cont...
I had read on the net that lodging places were often nervous that Gaijin wouldn't like their Japanese food and they wouldn't know what to feed them so after the experience with Indefinable Foodstuffs on Koyasan, I found it easier to have my lodging not include meals. It made it cheaper, I was in more control of what had intimate relations with my intestines and the lodgings seemed happier to accept me.
At temple 6, we quickly dumped our packs as Scooterman suggested and walked the short distance to temple 7. When we got back we checked in and the others went off to have their dinner as I was shown to my room.
It was divine.
It was almost exactly the same set-up as the room on Koyasan. The sun spilled through from the tranquil Zen garden outside forming a golden pool on the tatami mats that said 'Come bathe in me' so I gladly peeled my shoes and socks off and lay on my back for five minutes soaking in the gammas.
As the sun moved I thought I would have a go too. I gingerly pulled myself into an upright(ish) position, retrieved the last of my food from the pantry in my pack and made a delicious salad.
Earlier in the day we worked out that Taieriki and Kenji Sans were breaking away to climb a mountain the next day and Yahiro San and I were going to go on to Temple 10 together. The check-in was such a flurry that, when we all got led off in different directions, I didn't get a chance to find out where my friends were going to be or make arrangements for meeting up the next day.
I had just finished clearing away my salad when I heard a quiet 'Sumimasen E San?' outside my door. I hobbled over and slid it open to find Taieriki San standing politely in the hall. She said matter of factly 'Could you please be at the front door by 7am to meet Yahiro San'. I said Hai! and Arigato! Then I asked when her and Kenji San were leaving. She told me they were leaving at the same time. I was relieved. I couldn't bear not saying goodbye to them.
She bowed and left.
Even though I was exhausted from staggering 15 km's in 8 hours, I resisted the temptation to just collapse and mold myself back into the Tatami. Instead I made up my bed, plugged in my phone and sent some texts then did my writing.
I had pesky worries about the next two days hanging around my head like fruit flies but I waved them aside before they could morph into fighter planes and free fell into a coma.
TEXTS...
EL to F&F (Family and Friends):
Walked 8 hours today with 3 others to Temple 6 - sunny but not too hot. My feet want a divorce and I'm walking like a pregnant 80 year old!
Nic to EL:
Stop and take a break for a couple of days u maniac!
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