Gaijin Henro

(foreign pilgrim)

If you want detailed information about Shikoku's 88 Temple Pilgrimage - you're not going to find it here. This is purely a well meaning attempt from a mostly lost, often malfunctioning and misinformed foreigner to share the chaos that ensued while attempting it...



Belief 101

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FOREWARD... Journal Entry - Dec 03, 2005 I don’t believe in myself. I first became conscious of this a few years ago when I had nowhere to...

The Saint...

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So I saved all the money I could, a few friends and family gave me contributions and off I set. In the week before I left I kept thinking ...

Reassurance from One Who Knows

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April 9 -----Original Message----- From: Eleanor Lefever Sent: Sunday, April 09, 2006 12:50 AM To: Dave Turkington ( Shikoku Henro Tra...

Regrets I Have

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Travel start eve - April 28 1: That I didn't go to the doctor the minute I got a strep throat last week Now it's the morning of th...

What I Got Right

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Travel start eve cont - April 28 1: Having the courage to do a high dive by braille out of my comfort zone 2: Getting a mobile phone that ...

Navigating my way out of the country

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AND SO IT BEGINS... April 28 I only managed to get on the first plane through a constant stream of synchronicity - some would say miracl...

My 5 planets in Virgo will never accept that sniffing's OK!

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April 28 cont I was one of about 5 gaijin (foreigners) on the connecting flight from Papeete to Japan - all the rest were young Japanese co...

Escaping Narita

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April 29 NTS (note to self): Airlines give out life savingly useful items such as circulation cutting polyester socks and blankets but not ...

Tokyo Train Station Stimuli

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April 29 cont... I got off the bus, put on the pack for first time and was instantly mortified as I swayed before getting my balance. I co...

Getting Connected

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April 29 cont... Busting! Asked directions to bathroom - right in front of me. No mobile phone reception! Asked directions to Vodafone sto...

Seating Arrangements

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April 29 cont Nowhere in Tokyo s tation could I find somewhere to sit (much less lie) down so I went to a faceless cafe. Luckily the plastic...

Church of The Latter Day Starbucks

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April 29 cont... I was surprised to come across a fantastic art exhibition. I talked to the artist, Ken, who was 57 and had clearly been hav...

Going Back Into The Cave

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April 29 cont... When I left Starbucks, I gave the boy back the pen I had borrowed off him to write, with ¥100. When I worked it out, I gave...

Fair suck of the Sav mate!?

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April 29 cont... The bus finally left, surprisingly with me on it. I was so afraid my embarrassing lack of Japanese would help me only in m...

Sleepers

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April 29 cont... The bus was really a small d ormitory made for long distance travel. All the curtains were pulled when we got on. My seat r...

I'm Here, Really Here

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April 30 We had a strange stop around dawn. The bus pulled into a parking lot and shut down for half an hour. I looked around to get clues...

A Fascination With Public Restrooms

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April 30 cont... We arrived in Osaka about 7am. I went up to the bus depot to ask about getting to Mt Koya but the depot was still shut so...

Narrowly Missing Missing Planes &Trains

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April 30 cont... I hit the Virtual Brick Wall 2 or 3 times - and I hadn't even had lunch. My boss Tony knew the look I got and said I ...

Masks

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There seemed to be a constant layer of smog. I sat opposite a middle aged woman and her mother who were wearing paper masks. They weren...

The Information Centre - Koya San

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April 30 cont... On the way to Kobo Daishi's Mausoleum on Koyasan Off one train onto the other train, off that train onto the cab...

An Education

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April 30 cont... Hiroki San was tireless. She reminded me of my wonderful ex Mother in Law. Unfortunately, Yasu San had just arrived back...

The Imposter

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April 30 cont... The Temple that Hiroki San booked me into was just like you see in pictures. I felt a little intimidated and like an intr...

A Bath In A Teacup

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April 30 cont... The bathroom at the end of the hall was 3 basins and a mens and womens toilet side by side. The womens had a traditional J...
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The Monkey

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May 1 I had set my alarm but was awake about 5:10am, 20 minutes before the alarm was due to go off. I had to lift the covers to check it was...

Spitting the Dummy & Throwing the Towel

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May 1 cont... When I got back to my room my embarassment turned to anger at my ignorance and naivete . There was no way I could do this! Eve...

Wild Abandonment

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May 1 cont... I got back to the Temple 10 minutes late for checkout, found my bags in the hallway and one of the novice Monks cleaning my ro...

The Damn Bursts

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May 1 cont... I didn't think it was possible but things got even worse giving me sudden insight into why my hair was only 1\2 cm long - ...

Regaining Sanity in Shin-Osaka

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May 1 cont... When the worst passed and I felt empty, I halfheartedly retrieved the crumpled information sheet to get bearings around the Ho...
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