Day 37: Matsuyama-Kumakōgen
You’re never going to believe this, but I went down to breakfast this morning and ate the same stuff I ate yesterday, just less of it as last night’s...
Day 36: Zero (Matsuyama)
I was having such a lovely day off that I almost forgot to write stuff down tonight, dang it! So here goes: I woke up, went down to breakfast, and they…...
Day 35: Ōzu-Matsuyama
Well, wouldn’t you know it, but that wasn’t French sparkling wine in the lounge yesterday evening: it was actual honest-to-God Champagne. It’s been a long...
Day 34: T43-Ōzu
I’ve just checked in to a hotel that’s upgraded me to a suite and delivered a bottle of French sparkling wine to my room and I’m also waiting for the...
Day 33: B6-T43
Howdy from another old-school ryokan, this time in Unomachi, Seiyo City! So old school, in fact, that there is no Wi-Fi. As a result, today’s newsletter will...
Day 32: Tsushima-Uwajima
If you happen to know who Roger Meyer is, then you’ve probably heard of Uwajima, albeit indirectly. And if you haven’t heard of Roger Meyer, that’s an...
Day 31: T40-Tsushima
Before I begin - and I’m going to be honest here, you might want to skip this entry if you’re squeamish - I’d like to take a moment and recommend one of my...
Day 30: Sukumo-T40
According to the canonical route guide published by Buyodo Co., Ltd., I am currently at km 593 of the pilgrimage route; the total distance is 1,137 km. This...
Day 29: Sukumo (T39)
Given yesterday’s events, I woke up in the same hotel I’d meant to check into later on the day, which made today’s walking extra easy as I could just leave...
Day 28: Nakamura-Sukumo
I did not expect to be sleeping in Sukumo tonight. But first: let’s go back a little bit. I don’t have a picture of it, but it helps to understand that I’m...
Day 27: Zero (Nakamura)
Welp, that storm didn’t quite happen, as it turns out. There was some very light rain in the morning and there’s some now as well, in the evening, but it was...
Day 26: Shimoda-Nakamura
For the past couple of days, the weather app on my iPhone - oh wait, one sec, my Apple Watch is vibrating, there’s a Rain Soon alert happening. Heh. Yes,...
Day 25: Ariigawa-Shimoda
I can be a little bit of a traditionalist about some things; one of those is food. Many years ago, I was finally able to score a reservation for the High...
Day 24: T37-Ariigawa
One of the most brain-chewingly confusing things when planning this trip was trying to get place names correct - it’s only over the last couple of days that...
Day 23: Nakatosa-T37
So dinner last night was totally fine if somewhat unremarkable; the cheap, laminated English-language drinks menu set the tone somehow - compared with, say,...
Day 22: B5-Nakatosa
It’s a little after 5 pm as I’m writing today’s entry. I’m sitting on a sort-of-Western chair at a table that is still too low for me to get my knees etc....
Day 21: T36-B5
I woke up super early this morning and was surprised to see that it was already getting light outside even though it wasn’t quite 5 am. Dawn’s rosy fingers...
Day 20: T34-T36
Before I continue, I’ll just note that although I’m staying at another onsen tonight, not only was their virtually no one at dinner tonight, no one was...
Day 19: Kochi - T34
Dang it, I slept like hell last night. For the first night since leaving home, I managed to have a hotel-neighbor who would get up and crash into things...
Day 18: Zero (Kochi)
Dinner last night was at an extremely popular gyoza-and-ramen stand; it was a medium-long wait to get in and the Belgian cub and I had to eat standing up,...