Day 1: much more exhausting than I thought

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 taken

Finally: one learning from today for the future: I will never do something in addition to the original tour plan. Today I voluntarily added 5km to see the German House in Naruto which is a memorial site for a German Prisoner Camp in World War 1, which was located here. This camp has gotten very famous, since the prisoners were allowed to perform their original professions within the camp and even sell their goods to the Japanese (e.g. bread). Most famous was the prisoner orchestra, which played Beethovens 9th symphony for the first time in Japan.

German house in Naruto

I call it a day and take a „night picture“ from the site, where I am staying tonight. Breakfast starts at 6:30 and I want to be on the trail already at 7:00 in order to have a little time of cooler temperatures.

At Anrakuji temple site (T6) 


Comments

  1. ChristophSeptember 27, 2023 at 10:42 AM

    Dein Blog ist eine feine Sache - derzeit verfolge ich ihn Tag für Tag. Schön, dass Du abends noch Zeit und Kraft dafür findest. Macht's plastisch und einiges ist richtig nachvollziehbar (bspw. die 31° ohne großen Schatten für 8 Stunden).

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