Day 15: bad luck today



The day started good, since I had not to carry my backpack. However, when sitting in the train to the starting point of my temple tour around Kochi, I noticed that I had neither my cap nor sun protection cream along with me. I had no intention to drive back and thought, that I could buy sun protection cream easily at one of the many 24/7 markets which you can find all over the place in Japan. After I was unsuccessful in the first 3 markets, I was lucky in the fourth one, where a staff member could find one in the storage room. She said, that it was the only one she had and that there was no other choice. So I was lucky and a sun burn during an again sunny day could be avoided. 

I guess, that managers of those markets have decided that summer is over, autumn has started and that expensive store space has to be filled with other items which are assumed to requested more. Whether it is still sunny and hot outside does not matter.

Later I had no luck, when a small dog was biting into my calve. I do not underestimate the potential consequences of such incidents. I disinfected the wound immediately and carefully observe how the whole thing develops.

Stephan, a fellow Henro walker from Austria, whom I met a few times in the last 2 weeks told me a story from a Chinese pilgrim, who had a blister first, which then infected so much, that he could not move on any longer.

Kochi is a large town on the island of Shikoku with more than 300.000 inhabitants. There is a wounderful castle which I looked at during daytime and also in the evening when it is illuminated.

Kochi Castle 

Kochi Castle at night

The city has an extensive nightlife with many bars and restaurants. Hirome market has a big food court where Stephan and I enjoyed “katsuo no tataki” together with a beer yesterday evening. Katsuo no tataki is slightly grilled bonito (kind of tuna) served together with spring onions, ginger and garlic, seasoned with salt, soy sauce and lemon. The whole dish is a local speciality.

"Katsuo no tataki"

At the food court in Koichi

Stephan joint me this evening and we had a good time

Walking distance today was 27 km (total: 305 km). Altitude: 180 m. Temperature was 24 degrees Celsius, but again nasty to walk in the sun.

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