Day 91-93: Niihama to Kashima

 Day 91: Niihama to Nojima House

Hours walked: 7:30-3:00

Distance walked: 24 km 

Cumulative: 2,009 km 

We found a new friend for Levi today, to replace poor Darwin. We call him Gloomy; he’s a grumpy-faced creature found wedged in a fence by a rainy road. Tova also found five pearls on the road today, they’re joining her necklace trove (which also has a button, a bee, a bead and a flower)

All the girls (except Levi, who was asleep) bonged the giant bell at Ishizuchi Jinja temple to celebrate reaching 2,000 km. We saw three temples today, and realized that the mountain temples, though much harder to reach, may be the loveliest. 

Tonight we are staying at a guesthouse started by Taniguchi-san, a local who suddenly found himself with a Lithuanian and a Canadian on his hands when lockdown hit. Now he welcomes in Henro walkers for a voluntary donation. He met us at the grocery store, and even led Jakob all the way to his house for 15 minutes, patiently driving his car at a walking pace. 

We all enjoyed a convivial dinner in the guesthouse shed: Jakob made a yummy miso udon vegetable stew, and there was a variety of traditional side dishes. We talked about favorite temples, and people’s backstories: a Dutchman is revisiting this trail after seeing it 35 years ago, a French couple is here for their son’s wedding to a Japanese woman in Osaka. Taniguchi plays a mean trombone, and next time (if there ever is one) he and Jakob are gonna jam. 

Then we turned in for the night, unfortunately with more than a few mosquitoes to keep us company. 

At Nojima House with Taniguchi-san

Zadie’s photo of her favorite lily pad

Origami in Japan is next-level

Day 92: Nojima House to Imabari

Hours walked: 7:30-4:00

Distance walked: 24 km 

Cumulative: 2,033 km 

Quote of the day: ”This is the kind of weather where, in books, people are driving along a cliff and then they fall off and die!” - Sophia 

Well, we lost Gloomy today. He was only with us for a few short hours, then Levi mercilessly pitched him out of her stroller into the rain. RIP. 

We walked in a typhoon! At least, that’s what it felt like. Typhoon Kong-Rey smashed into Taiwan yesterday, bounced off like a billiard ball and, with perfect aim, floated directly over Ehime Prefecture (aka us) not long after we set off from Nojima House. 

It was the heaviest rain that has ever fallen on Earth. It slashed down at us mercilessly, a deafening roar on our pathetic umbrellas, a screaming eagle forcing our heads to burrow into raincoats like terrified earthworms. Passing trucks sent up walls of water that soaked Zadie from neck to toe. The puddles we walked through seemed almost dry. A sign appeared, Rest Stop 1 km! We hustled along as best we could, Levi pooping in her diaper on Tamar’s back with her golden hair plastered on her fat forehead. 

After what felt like forever we reached a bright, spacious rest stop - but we couldn’t bear to go inside, wet as we were. So we stood outside for awhile, watching the torrential rains and letting the water run off us. We ended up spending several hours waiting out the rain: we ate French fries, old ladies gave us clementines. We all felt cold, and Jakob’s right PCL seized up a bit. We miraculously found hot cocoas as we set out again, and Tova held the can in her bluish hands for an hour as we walked. We only had 10km left, and blessedly the rain held to a light drizzle. We passed sooo much flooding; Tova named Solar Pond, Solar Lake, Car Creek - we saw a stranded driver, rivers gushing over their banks…and blue skies in a bright band far ahead of us. 

It turned out to be a record-breaking rainfall, and we didn’t feel comfortable camping (plus it would have been mighty late after our delay) - so we splurged on a very expensive, very nice Route Inn. We threw our sopping wet clothes in the laundry, soaked up the onsen’s warmth, and went to bed early after a delicious supermarket dinner. 

She doesn’t seem to mind being drenched 

A snapshot of the earlier, lighter rain

One of the flooded sections we had to navigate the stroller through 

Day 93: Imabari to Kashima

Hours walked: 7:30-3:30

Distance walked: 26 km 

Cumulative: 2,059 km 

We woke up to a perfectly blue sky, like being inside a marble. How could the same sky ever have rained like it did? Everyone was pretty cheerful today, even if we did get slightly burned. 

We saw aftermath of yesterday’s deluge everywhere - drowned rice fields, an unhappy family pumping water out of their flooded house, swollen rivers flowing at twice normal speed. As Sophia was being quizzed on radians, she noticed a crumpled bill in a ditch: 1,000 yen! But it was eight feet down, with steep sides and shallow fast flowing water at the bottom. Tova climbed down anyway, splashed up the slimy ditch in her battered sandals, and made it safely back up. Soon after, she also found a silver amulet with three turquoise stones in it lying by the side of the road. Typhoon treasures…

We dance with death on a daily basis: today we faced a sheer, 150-centimeter drop. Not wanting to backtrack almost 5,000 centimeters, we manhandled the sleeping baby down the precipice; she miraculously survived and didn’t even wake up. An elderly woman watched the whole thing, her expressionless face somehow radiating disapproval. 

Tonight we would camp on an island, Kashima. We waited 20 minutes for the ferry, while Levi bustled down to the quay and tried to tug her way off the edge to meet the fish. The ferry lasted all of 2 minutes (Kashima is all of 150 metres offshore) and we’d reached our campsite. 

It was dotted with tents, maybe the most we’ve seen on this trip! Fortunately, there was a broad grassy area with plenty of room, and we had no trouble finding somewhere to set up. Levi went around with a 2kg rock smacking every stake she saw. 

The sunset was truly gorgeous, spanning every shade of the spectrum from bright pink to deep blue. We ate 90-second pasta with broccoli, tomato sauce and cheese as we watched the sun paint the sky. Zadie found a planet; Levi practiced running out of control and narrowly avoided faceplanting about ten times. The stars came out in a flood, we bundled into down jackets, and settled in for the night. 

Every shade of orange there is 

It was a long, gentle sunset 

It’s nice being back by the sunshiny coast again