Day 3 – Temple 6 Belltower
My internal clock says morning is late in the day. I wake up at 4 am and rollout of bed at 5 am. I pack up and hit Lawsons for a coffee and head to the train. It was quit hilarious that when I asked which train the information officer flipped a switch to turn on the English subtitles for the train. Bando station is only 5 stops from downtown Tokushima or just 24 minutes. I get off with plenty of time to goto Lawsons for another coffee and breakfast. Back to Temple 1 to buy all my ohenro gear. Done! Into Temple 1 and I meet E & S a married couple from Canada. S was born in Japan and came back to honor her parents by walking the trail. E just likes hanging out with his wife and loves the walk. I run into the Frenchman again and he has plans with friends. After Temple 1, Temple 2 is not too far and Temple 3 is a little farther. I meet E & S at Temple 3 and we walk to Temple 4 together. Wow, so hot. You can tell it is hot by all the solar panels we are walking by. E & S take a break after 4 and I head to Temple 5 alone. I tell E & S I will be at the Lawson that is close to Temple 5. I was dehydrated by this time an pounded a couple liters of fluid and had lunch. E & S join me and I listen to S’s childhood stories. Then conversation switches to their desire to move back to Japan. I think they took this trip to decide and it took only one day to arrive at yes. At Temple 6, I run into the Frenchman and we are staying in the belltower with an Italian from Verona. C, the Italian, knows no Japanese or English but some Spanish. The Frenchman and I piece together some broken Spanish to try to help C on his way. It turns out there are no Italian translations of the walking guide for the Shikoku C is just winging it! So tonight I am sleeping in a temple belltower with some new friends and fellow pilgrams. Good night all.