Day 1. It's a start...not?

Okay this shouldn't have been big surprise but forgot to take this possibility into account. There had been huge rains in Japan shortly before arrival which included the Shikoku. I had obviously followed news on that before departure. I was under impression Ehime had taken the worst from Shikoku with deaths and damage so I didnt think much about my Kochi plans except take note to take care on mountains and consult locals about safety of routes. Use highways if need be rather than mountains.

What I did not anticipiate was complete blockade of trains to Kochi...Which meant I couldn't get to my starting point. Which meant my pilgrimage was on halt already.

Obviously not too pleased I spent several moments thinking what to do and going back and forth between train and bus stations. I even considered airport at first but then I learned problem wasnt train to Kochi. Problem was ALL Kochi trains were out. Not good. Then I learned I could get to Kochi by bus but no idea by anybody how to get to Susaki which is where I was supposed to start. On foot retreading my path there would take likely 3 days on my reduced pace compared to last year so that didn't seem like good idea either. I could take risk going there and hope to find bus to Susaki but not sure could I find that seemed risky. I'm not good with busses.

In the end I hit a plan B. I skip the original plan, take next day bus To Matsuyama and start from temple 52. If I dont lose up to the heat I could get to 88 this year leaving 37-51 next year. Bit weird style of pilgrimage but if it works...

So with bus ticket bought I cancelled the lodging reservations I had apologizing profusedly. At least I was early in morning so they shouldnt be preparing my meal yet or anything. I tried to offer cancellation fee but they told me it was not needed. Nice of them.

Booking new lodging was harder than I expected though. Took me 8 calls in total and ended up further than I had hoped. Would be about 20km day which wasn't problem as such(bit less than average I was planning for daily walk anyway) but with bus taking time...I figured I might need to use a train a bit...

With these sorted out time to think what to do today. I opted for climb to Mount Bizan. One of the last sightseeing things I wanted to do in Tokushima that I hadn't done yet and good practice on climbing a mountain on this heath. And boy it was HARD. 

I got myself new hand towel having forgotten the one I bought yesterday to hotel and it was definitely needed. I was sweating like a pig. Good thing I had with me lots of liquids to drink. At times it was quite rough path and I missed my pilgrim staff I had left behind as this wasn't pilgrim route. Maybe Kukai wouldnt have minded...

Views at the top were nice though.

Think these are for lovers to put one to symbolize their eternal love.

 Path to down was easier than going up at least though as usual my knees weren't too happy about the process going down. I like going up but going down is physically harder for my knees and ankles.

After down I got shower(again) and lunch at the gyoza restaurant again.

Though not gyoza but still tasty. Soup on bottom right was super tasty despite appearing almost like water.
 I then rested before going to put in laundry. Later ate dinner and talked with ramen owners who had done the pilgrimage themselves in their youth. I messed up laundry a bit as I forgot to press start putton on dryer and inserted as such more coins than I had intended thinking I had forgotten to put in coins so ended up with hour long drying rather than half an hour. Back to hotel, read, go get laundry, back to hotel, read and talk with relatives, go to sleep.

Had hard time falling asleep. Heat and self doubt kept me wake. Could I do it? Am I dead tomorrow? Will I call it quits tomorrow? What to do if I call it quits? No real plans other than this and others would be more expensive. Have just a one week rail pass so can't do much travelling. Ah questions questions. I also came to conclusion I probably need to skip idea of walking everything and use trains, busses, ropeways and taxis at times. I try to keep days at about 20km walk at most.