88 Temples of Shikoku 2023

Distance: 20 km (total: 87 km), time on the road: 10h, altitude: 310 meters, sunny and only partly cloudy at 29 degrees Celsius and almost no wind. I am so tired from the last 4 days and will sleep shortly. I am tired The private house we stayed in is just opposite to temple 17 and very nice. It has only four guest rooms. Just see todays party at the evening dinner. No one is younger than 60 years of age. The oldest (Matsubara-san) is 76. He walked o-henro more than 10 times and said, that he is famous because of that and will shortly be in TV. Joint evening dinner with "the Frensh man", Matsubara-san and Kato-san Entrance door of Temple 17 Start at 6:30 in the morning. It goes steep up into the mountains. Stephan ahead, he will disappear soon. Dolls in Kamiyama 0n the resting bench you can see the water stains from my wet trousers (from sweating)

Distance: 19 km (total: 67 km), Time on the road 9:30 h, Altitude: 1165 m, Weather: partly sunny and cloudy,  28 degrees Celsius. The walk between temple 11 and temple 12 is a „Henro Korogashi“, where a number of pilgrims fail to manage the walk. It is said to be one of the hardest parts of the trail. The tour runs entirely on natural paths and stone steps (are no fun to walk on). It took me 7:30 hours to reach Shosanji (T11) and I guess I was the slowest of the about 20 people walking today. Luckily I had the opportunity of baggage transport. I am very clear that I would have not been able to carry my 6 kg backpack plus 4 liters of water today. Carrying only water and some food was exhausting enough. I think in the last three days I reached every day my limits for different reasons. Start to walk up to Shosanji Tempe (T11) Corinne already far ahead, the other fellows I saw not before evening at the ryokan again. In the mountains View from the mountains Here you get an impression f...

Distance: 26 km (total up to now: 48 km); time on the road; 9:30 h; altitude 250 m, sunny at 32 degrees Celsius; some valley breezes provided occasionally some relief.  That was the most exhausting hiking day I experienced in the last 5 years. And the reason was just the sun and the heat. I am totally exhausted and almost unable to write some meaningful news. Also I need to prepare for tomorrows hike, where the altitude of more than 1000 m will be the challenge. Breakfast at Anrakuji (T6): foreigners who are traveling alone are placed together at one table. Breakfast at Anrakuji (T6) together with Stephan Kaurizinek from Austria, Corinne from The Netherlands and "Mr. Rothmann" from Austalia Kirihata-ji temple (T10) While I was and will stay overnight in ryokans, there are also simple „houses“ on the trail for people with little money to stay over night free of charge.  Simple house for o-henro pilgrims to take a rest The first snake on the street which however is dead The are...

Distance: 22km, Total time: 8:30 h, altitude 150 m, sunny at 31 Degree Celsius, almost no walk in the shadow. Today I started the o-Henro trail at Ryozenji temple (T1) in Bando at about 8:30. It was sunny and got soon very hot. Although this day had almost no inclines, I was very exhausted at the end. It was just too hot and even drinking 3-4 liters of water has not helped.  Now I am at Anrakuji temple (T6) where I can stay overnight and participate at a religious ceremony „otsutome“, right after dinner. Ryozenji-temple (T1) entrance At the Ryozenji-temple site Temple guard one: closed mouth Temple guard two: open mouth The fierce looking guys on the pictures are the temple guards, who are situated on the left and the right side of a main entrance building. One has his mouth open, the other one closed. Melanie (from France) to my left, I have never seen again.  Corinne Broekman on my right walked with me many days, but that was not clear at the moment when the picture was take...

This is how my back pack looks like My back packs total weight is 6 kg (without water). You can see the bell from Kifune Shrine in Kyoto, which I got from Ikuyo-san (the bell should ensure my good health and save traveling). The sound of the bell could also protect me against bears („tsuki no waguma“, which however do not exist any longer on Shikoku island). The Dragon Fly out of plastic (also from Ikuyo-san), should shield me against mosquitoes. Let’s see whether this is working. Finally you can see the „Omemori“ talisman from Inoue-san, which he got from Ohatsu-Tenjin shrine in Umeda. This one should protect my health and support a safe travel. The reflective yellow strips on both sides of the backpack should warn car drivers that there is person walking in the car tunnel. Additionally I will wear a head lamp. By the way, my own weight at the start of the trip is 90 kg.  Shoe alternatives: I took the lighter ones from Brooks I decided to take the Brooks Ghost 14 GTX  trail-r...

I am still adjusting to local time and for that reason stayed another night in Osaka. Today I met old friends and again visited the remarkable Umeda Sky Building. Although it is already 30 years old (construction completed in 1993), this landmark building remains an architectural highlight. Umeda Sky Building Ikuyo-san provided me with home made, high energy superfood for the hike as well as incense sticks and a lighter for temple ceremonies. Finally she gave to me a small bell from Kifune shrine in Kyoto, which should ensure good health and save traveling and an artificial dragon fly which should repel mosquitoes. Both I will attach to my back pack. Meeting Ikuyo-san Useful presents from Ikuyo-san for my trip including self baked cookies as energy reserves  Sushi Kauto in Umeda Enjoying sushi together with Miyoshi-san

It is my first day in Japan. Osaka was still as clean as I remember the town. The people on the street were well dressed and the whole atmosphere was peaceful and relaxed. In the evening I had a nice yakiniku dinner with former Bayer colleagues. With former Bayer colleagues at Tajimaya Yakiniku Restaurant in Osaka Presentation of the beef ...enjoying the evening    

The first day in Crete. Back in the beautiful town of Chania, which I saw the first time in 1967 when I was 10 years of age. With a  group of Boy Scouts we were hiking 5 weeks across the island, which had little tourism at this point in time.

Here the same advice applies as stated for Balos: since the beach is so beautiful and  unique with pink sand, many tourists are coming during the day. So try to be there very early in  the morning (8:00 a.m. at the latest) to enjoy the landscape.

Here you find a nicely located olive oil production site working at highest environmental standards. The process from harvesting to the final fill into bottles is explained in about 45 min. At least I have learned something new. The view from the estate into the direction of the sea has something mystical. And high in the sky eagles are inspecting the ground.

Petraulas Bar is a unique place located high on the west coast with a great view over the Mediterranean Sea. But it’s not only this what makes the place special. It is the kind of building material and the way it has been assembled (certainly done by non professionals). The place gets lively with 7 dogs peacefully lying all  over the place and a donkey who has given the place its name. Certainly it is worth to stop when passing by.

Here I had spend a few days as a student sleeping on the beach. This for many years no longer possible.

I have never been here before. But the stony beach is very  nice.