Day 10: Where if we had swum we would have been drier

The sound of the pouring rain may be relaxing when one is sleeping under a warm comforter, but listening to it when getting up for a cycling day is a totally different story. While we have breakfast we compulsively check the weather forecasts, hoping for some good news, but we have to face the evidence that today will be rainy.

When we get on our bikes the rain stops, and we think that maybe the forecasts were wrong, but as soon as we leave the road 42 to move inland to shorten a bit the route it starts over again.

We stop some minutes to wear our rain jackets and have no other choice than going on. Before reaching the Shimanto Oashi bridge we meet Min, the henro we met after temple 37. To be here walking he must have an impressive pace or very short nights, but we don't investigate. Some quick greetings and we go, as neither of us is eager of chatting under the rain.

After the bridge we head South for a couple of kilometers, where we stop under a rest hut at a crossroad. While we drink something warm (be blessed the vending machines!), we evaluate what to do. If we proceed on the 321 we have to climb and then take a 1600 meters long tunnel, while if we take the coastal road we have a somewhat longer route going through cape Oyakisaki, cape Arisaki, cape Nunosaki and cape Kannonzaki but with less worries for having to share the road with heavy traffic.

Looking at the mountains where the 321 climbs we see low clouds hugging them: rain, mist and traffic are not really what we are looking for today, therefore the coastal road gets an unanimous approval. After few kilometers on it, when the rain gets temporarily heavier, we seek refuge under a car shed, but then decide to continue: we are wet anyway, and standing still we also produce less heat to keep us warm.

As usual for coastal road in our trip we don't meet flatness: up and down everywhere, and also no signals to hint we are going in the right direction. We just trust our gut feeling when picking a direction, and the more we venture into the woods, the more we hope we don't have to get back.
This apart our surroundings are really enjoyable: trees everywhere, birds tweeting from within the branches and the constant dripping of the rain make us feel in a very remote place, we even cross the road of a 20 cm long earthworm, which initially I take for a snake.

The first trace of mankind we meet is a group of youngsters surfing in a remote bay. The don't pay us any attention, focused on catching the waves coming from the ocean. Few kilometers more and we reach the harbor past cape Kannonzaki.

We stop at a Lawson to get some warm drinks, and we see that our lodging is just 300 meters across the bridge. Our intention is to reach temple 38 and then get back here, and we are keeping our schedule so far. But somebody up in the clouds shows us its sense of humor...

While we cross the bridge it starts pouring so much rain that swimming in the river wouldn't had made us more damp. We just have to stop at our lodging and knock on the door hoping they will let us in.

When they open the door we must look really miserable, and honestly the idea of entering a wooden house with straw matted floor while dripping water like two recently captured sponges is the worst we could think right now.

The old couple managing the lodge can speak little to no English, but their calm attitude while they help us wiping dry our stuff with the help of old newspaper has the effect of calming our anxiety and we feel in good hands.

While outside the rain keeps falling we take a shower to warm us up and when we are having some small chat with the couple a walking henro stops by the door to take some recover and he is offered a cup of tea. Right when we are sitting on the tatami of our room to get some food the rain stops.

We have about 38 km to reach the temple and then the same to get back, with about 4 hours before dusk: should we try it or not? We decide to go: we wear back our cycling gear, leave the panniers at the lodge and get on our trusted bikes.

Being lighter  we feel like flying while going on the main road, then when we get on a smaller road winding on the side of the hills and connecting road 321 with road 27, we sink again into the woods.

 We feel welcome here, and our legs respond to our brain in the swiftest way. We soon reach the coast and from there we run until cape Ashizurimisaki. We pass through a fishermen village, where the fragrance of smoked bonito hits our noses and gives us the energies to take the last climb before temple 38. And then there we are: cape Ashizurimisaki, our southernmost point in this trip is right there next to our wheels.

While cape Muroto was a remote place in our thoughts before the trip, this one was nothing more than a dream. Somehow we were not even thinking that we could made it so far.

We climb the stairs taking to the temple and there we chant the sutra, being grateful for the trip today. We then stay some more to simply enjoy the fantastic view of the temple surrounded by the sea.

The crowd of bus propelled tourists flocking around us simply doesn't reach our consciousness, we are just savoring the moment and all that came before it.

We get back on our bikes and start following back the road we did few moments ago: not having to look at the map allows us to go even faster, and the smell of smoked bonito is a nice farewell we get from this corner of Japan.

When we get on the hills we cycle past a small hut where we see a henro cleaning it for the night: to our big surprise it is again Min. Unless he has a bike hidden in his backpack he is really a fast walker to have reached so far today!

Since we have still some onigiri that we didn't consume for lunch we offer them to him: he will probably have a difficult time finding some shop in the surrounding, and we are sure any small help is appreciated.

 Chasing the setting sun we reach the lodging when the first darkness is spreading on the roofs. We take our second shower of the day and when we get out we find the most delicious curry we ever tried in our life waiting for us. Prepared by the tenant is really a superb way of closing this day, and the origami accompanying it add just the final touch.

We express our deepest appreciation and gratitude to the couple for both the delicious dinner and also the great support they gave us today, and we hope they have been able to understand our words even though they were not expressed in Japanese.

We also hear from Truus and Suzanne, who are staying at the hotel we stayed yesterday, and tomorrow will stay here. We assure them that both places are worth staying, and we get in our beds to get some rest.

Where we slept:

Tosa-shimizu city, Lodge Camellia, 0880 84 1377