Blinged out TruckIt only took me five minutes to realise I had made a brilliant decision in continuing with my friends because I doubt that I would have got out of Temple 13s town much less found my way to the next temple by myself. We navigated our way around a maze of the little roads between rice paddies trying to find signs. An experience more of psychic discovery than orienteering logic.
Watering Dragon at Temple 15All of this mental exercise was making me hungry so when we made a sudden detour off the road not far after Temple 14-15 (losing track) and into an udon café, my stomach did backflips of joy. The udon from this little café made our New Zealand udon look like vermicilli – it was divineness in a bowl – Oishi!! (yummy). More settai from Myoko San. Everyone laughed when I patted my tummy and indicated that Settai was making me fat.
As we got closer to our last temples I hung back. I was getting teary but didn’t want anyone to see me. Saying goodbye again felt too big for me to handle. These people (Miyuki, Myoko, Iwamoto Sans and Mamasan) had become like a family to me and my chest felt like it had an earthquake inside of it at the thought of leaving them.
I sat next to Myoko San at Temple 16 and tried to convey how much I appreciated their generosity but the words felt untranslatable and came out hollowly – I tried to lighten it by saying my new word for the day - arigatai. I picked up that it was said humourously as a plural for arigato meaning lots of thanks. Her responding smile seemed guarded but I think she was feeling a little sad too.
We finished all of our rituals at Temple 17 and were sitting around when an elderly couple came up to me and asked if I was Elena. I looked at them stupidly and said Hai! They then gave me a large envelope with my name on it.
I was shocked and ravenously intrigued and kept bowing, saying Arigato. While I was turning the envelope over, trying to get some clues, they vanished as mysteriously as they had appeared. There was a note attached to the envelope in Japanese but no-one had the English to explain what it said so I opened it.
It was from the Roadside Hotel where I had stayed two nights earlier. In it were the maps I had left behind on the counter. I will never know how the elderly couple knew where to find me (considering I was going to stop at 13) and I will always be amazed at the timing because we were just about to leave to catch the train to Tokushima.
I thought it was stunning and kept omigodding and crikeying at the integrity of the hotel and the tenacity of the elderly couple but the others looked at me and shrugged as if it was an everyday occurrence.
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