I’ve been on the road now for a little over 10 days. Literally on the road. I started walking October 5 from the small Bando railway station north of Tokushima City in Shikoku and easily strolled past temples one through five on the first day. It was perfect! The temples were beautiful, the weather perfect and the small streets and lanes were bucolic and meandering. Since then things have gotten tougher, but the walk has been excellent – better than I had expected.

A look at the map shows that many of the temples are found in clusters. For instance, temples one through 10 are bunched closely together, never more than five kilometres apart and all in relatively flat terrain. Thirteen through 17 are nestled in a bunch. As a result there are a fair number of pilgrims making the rounds between the temples in those groups and you see familiar faces during the day at each temple. Most are Japanese who have arrived by car and will return to their homes or hotels by car or bus at the end of the day. But quickly you identify the more hard core pilgrims, those of us attempting to walk all or a majority of the 88 temple route in one go. We all have small backpacks and different clothing and look slightly more weatherbeaten.

Buddhists stop and pray and chant sutras at each temple, which takes around 20 minutes. I normally just take off my pack and rest.

I’ve walked now to the base of temple 27 and am taking a rest day at a small hotel. The quaint almost Hobbit-like region and mountain passes of the first temples has been replaced by flat highway 55 which runs north to south all down the east side of the island. It’s 75.6 kilometres from temple 23 to 24, all of it on asphalt along the highway. Once south of the small towns of Hiwasa and Mugi, though, there’s very little traffic and wonderful views of the Pacific Ocean pounding on the rocks to your left. There are no services though, so most of us take a small bento or rice balls from the inn we stayed at the night before to fuel us for the day’s walk to the next lodging.

There are now very few pilgrims, most of whom have either gone home or have zipped down the coast in a car to temple 24 in an hour and a half instead of the three days it takes the arukihenro, or “walking pilgrims”.

We start to remember each other now. I’ve seen a young guy named Yuki most. He’s from Sendai and quit work to do the whole pilgrimage. I can’t tell why exactly but something cathartic happened to him, he doesn’t say but he appears to be starting a new stage in his life. We spent one entire day together walking and have stayed at the same place twice. There’s a German woman named Ramona; Endo-san who’s a middle aged retired salaryman, two Japanese sisters in their 60s and a gruff guy named Fujikata who keeps to himself. Those are the regulars. We pass each other during the day and chat during small breaks. Each of us has small issues to deal with: blisters, rain gear (it’s been raining the last few days), an ill fitting hat. It definitely feels as though we’re a band of pilgrims.

As for me, I’m really enjoying the walk. I love the variety of scenery and the rhythm of walking all day. I like that all you have to do to get someplace new is just walk, just keep walking and eventually you’ll find something different and be in a different place.

I feel good except for some nasty blisters everyone seems to have, and all my gear and clothing is working out well. The accommodation has been excellent. I’ve stayed every night (except for tonight) in a minshuku, a traditional Japanese inn where dinner and breakfast is included, you sleep on the floor on a futon and soak your sore muscles in the communal bath before bed. Everyone there is also a pilgrim so there’s plenty to talk about.

I’ve walked 275 kilometres so far, not even a quarter of the way. There’s a long way to go still but I feel good emotionally and physically so there’s nothing else to do but lace up and carry on.

Stay tuned!