Walk to Temple 13 - Dainichiji

The day started great but got hard quickly. The place I am staying woke me up at 6 am and prepared breakfast for me. I paid for dinner and breakfast because they were included in the price. I took some pictures of my hosts, then began the hike. There was a fork in the road, one leading to a hike and the other to the road. I saw the small sign pointing up for the pilgrimage, so I went up the path. It was a wrong choice. The trail was straight up, and nothing was paved. I took my time, but it still hurt. My legs were burning. I had to stop several times since it was just too much. There were points where I used my hands to climb higher. It would have been easy, but with the hike the previous day, it was just painful. I got to the top, and it was all downhill from there, all the way to Temple 13. The tough stuff was done, and it would be smooth sailing all the way through.

The views were spectacular, and I took far too many pictures. Soon I was joined by an older gentleman. He said "Konichiwa" and then started talking to me. He couldn't speak English; he would say a few words, not much else. He couldn't make sentences or anything like that, but he could talk. He would join me the entire way from near Temple 12 to Temple 13. His name was Mr. Watanabe. He is 71 years old and is a former doctor (internal medicine, as he tried to explain). He has a 40-year-old daughter and a grandson as well. He would point out different flowers and say their names in Japanese. A lot of the time I couldn't understand so I would pull out my phrase book or something, and he would point. Through this process of figuring out meaning, I learned he loved to play tennis and liked to watch Baseball. His favourite team is the Hanshin Tigers, whom I saw the last time I was in Japan. His wife passed away fairly recently. In tribute, he is walking in her honour. He is walking alone, but as I noticed, he talks to anyone along the way. I would stop with him, and he would explain who I was, since I heard "Dallaso," "Canada Jin Des," and "Ago Sansei" mixed in while the local person would look at me and say Ahhhh or Ohhhhh. He talked a lot about how the younger generation isn't into farming and how it is a shame (he did this by pointing to the plants and saying younger no grow food bad). He asked about my family, my brother, and things. I tried to explain, but I think he got it. As we moved on, this would also be included in his conversation with the people we met along the way. He talked to everyone.

We walked together as the trail down the mountain turned into a highway. Soon a van stopped in front of us. Out jumped the two older couples who had hosted me the night before: they whipped out oranges and a type of bread. I was surprised they did this. I was surprised they were so kind. I was in awe again.

We walked more as he talked, and I kept saying "hai" and also tried to look like I couldn't understand. If I couldn't fully, then he would grab my phrase book and look for words and such. Through all this, we learned more about each other. There were places with forks in the road, and we were unsure where to go, so he would ask the locals and talk to them. Again, he would explain who I was and what I was doing.

We went to an Udong (thick noodles in miso) restaurant and sat down. I got some free WiFi, so I uploaded some pictures and sent some messages. The entire time he was talking to the owners and all the customers. Again, I heard "Dallas," "Canada," "Hong Kong," "Sansei," and so on. I went to pay,y and that caused a bit of a battle since he had done so much to help me point the way.

I also met two girls from Canada, and he kind of "handed me off." One girl could speak both languages, so I went with them. He carried on since he was going a different way.

The whole walk with him will be with me always because of so many things. The kindness he showed. Understanding him without a fully common language. Just wow.