Exploring the unlikely intersections of walking, photography and making
April 18, 2017 Today is a rest day. Free of hours-long walking. A chance to visit local sites. And to eat, of course. Unfortunately, Ainan Town does not seem to offer much in the way of nearby sightseeing opportunities. So we hop on a bus and head east, down the coast to the larger and... Continue Reading →
April 17, 2017 A slight drizzle accompanies our way out of Sukumo. Light enough to pack our rain coats away, letting the cool dew dampen our clothes and drip off the brows of our conical hats. We head inland, away from the sea and up into the hills, following small roads and forest trails, cutting... Continue Reading →
April 16, 2017 If yesterday's walk was 6 kilometre’s too long - due to a lack of available lodgings along the way - today’s walk would be that much shorter. Just a 19-kilometre stroll to our pre-booked hotel in Sukumo. Gail and I survived Shimuzugawa-sō, our strange bunkhouse-in-the-woods. In fact, we slept well that night... Continue Reading →
April 15, 2017 The hosts at Seiryu, our well-worn lodging in Tosa-Shimizu, sent us off for the day with a wonderful Japanese breakfast. A good thing considering this will be a long 39-kilometre day of walking. We will be traversing a particularly remote part of Shikoku. Accommodations are both rare and well-booked. Tonight’s accommodation took... Continue Reading →
April 14, 2017 We leave Kaiyu Inn rather late, tempted by pancakes, waylaid by conversation. But this is a beautiful, sun-filled day that inspires a lazy attitude to our pilgrim mission. Within minutes we pass alongside the sweeping white sands of Ōki No Hama Beach. Behind us, the pristine white mass of Kaiyu Inn hangs... Continue Reading →
April 13, 2017 This looked to be an unusual day. For a change, the sky is clear as we make our way out of Nakamura. The Henro-michi takes us along the banks of the ever-broadening Shimanto River to its mouth at the Pacific Ocean. From here, the path heads inland, following Highway 321 as it... Continue Reading →
April 12, 2017 We call them rest days and today is one of those days. Here in the quiet, small city of Nakamura, we plan to do nothing more than see a few sights and, of course, eat. Nakamura is the perfect place to take a holiday from our daily walking ritual. It’s a small... Continue Reading →
April 11, 2017 It rained all night. Waking up this morning, looking out over the forlorn landscape and watching more rain pelting down on the road we would follow, there seemed little hope for a pleasurable walk. We sat down for our Japanese breakfast in the dining room of Kobushi-no-sato, a feast designed to take... Continue Reading →
April 10, 2017 We are reluctant to leave the luxurious digs of Kuroshio Honsen. After all, here we are enjoying our Japanese breakfast and, just outside our table-side window, rain pours down over scenic Kure Bay, reducing it to a sorry display of blue-greys. But there are 28 kilometres to cover and we know there’s... Continue Reading →
April 9, 2017 Today’s walk starts with great promise. After a fine Japanese breakfast, our obliging hostess at Minshuku Micchan loads us into her diminutive car and drives us up the steep winding road to its junction with Highway 47. We don our backpacks and say our goodbyes in a halting mishmash of English, Japanese... Continue Reading →