How I’ve come to celebrate and enjoy birthdays as a vagabond and digital nomad.
Tag: solo female travel blog
Japan’s Lost Pilgrimage: Kunisaki in 55 Photos
A weekend trip to the Rokugo Manzan, 33 Buddhist temples around Mount Futago in Oita Prefecture, Japan.
The Dewa Sanzan: Afterword
Thoughts after hiking the 3 Holy Mountains of Yamagata in a single day.
The Dewa Sanzan: Foreword to the 3 Holy Mountains of Yamagata
A brief introduction my journey to one of Shugendo’s holiest sites in Japan.
Dewa Sanzan 2/3: Gassan
This is part of a 5-part series on the Dewa Sanzan which includes diary entries and travel information. The bus ride winds down the hill from Haguro-san and picks up visitors staying at a mountain lodge. From there, it traverses wild grassland sprinkled with haphazard shrubs before climbing Gassan. Gassan, just shy of 2000 metres, is a long ride away. We enter deep forests and loop around winding roads for a while. The glimpses of the hills sliding down are spectacular. The morning clouds cast shadows that illuminate the surrounding green ridges. Even the treeline changes. It begins with a dense mix…
Dewa Sanzan 1/3: Haguro-san
This is part of a 5-part series on the Dewa Sanzan which includes 3 diary entries and travel information. August 7, 2015. It’s been a week since I finished the Ohenro, but I’m already back. I rise when the sky is still ashen, at 5am. Here, in the northern prefecture of Yamagata, the morning air is crisp, almost chilly. Today, I’ll see the Dewa Sanzan. They are one of the holiest centres of Shugendo, right up there with Mount Koya for Shingon Buddhism. In the darkness of the ryokan, I pack my half-empty bag and snack on a biscuit for breakfast….
Henro Day 40: July 30
Tokushima Otsuru Ryokan (徳島市大鶴旅館) → Ono Noen 小野農園 Temples: 10 Kirihata-ji (切幡寺) Weather: Sunny Travel Method: Cycling Distance: 24km Everything disappears quickly, food included. It takes 30 minutes to eat and pack up the pile of things that I’d left at Otsuru Ryokan two days ago. The ‘pile’ had overwhelmed me last night when I returned fits in my 25-litre bag with room to spare. The last thing I do is loop my tent to the front, which takes a few tries. It only takes two days to unlearn things you never cared for. At 6:34, I head downstairs to say goodbye to the…
Henro Day 39: July 29
Kamojima Town Kamo-no-Yu Onsen Henro Hut (鴨島町鴨の湯遍路小屋) → Tokushima Otsuru Ryokan (徳島市大鶴旅館) Temples: 12 Shōsan-ji (焼山寺), 13 Dainichi-ji (大日寺), 14 Jōraku-ji (常楽寺), 15 Awa Kokubun-ji (阿波国分寺), 16 Kannon-ji (観音寺), 17 Ido-ji (井戸寺) Weather: Sunny & Cloudy Travel Method: Walking (+ Car + Train return to Tokushima) Distance: 25.7km (+ 25.9km) 1305. 225. 15.7. 14:19. 25.7. Sigh. Breathe. Smile. Sit. Close eyes. Those are the last numbers of my pilgrimage. It is a 1305 metre elevation gain, 225 minutes of moving time, over 15.7km, at a pace of 14:19mins/km from my henro hut to Shōsan-ji. My total walk on my last day is 25.7km when I add Temples 13 to 17, my…
Henro Day 38: July 28
You can’t walk in someone else’s shoes. But you can share a mile with them…
Henro Day 35: July 25
Goshikidai Plateau Henro Hut (五色台遍路小屋) → Furu-Takamatsu (古高松) Temples: 83 (Ichinomiya-ji 一宮寺) Weather: Sunny Travel Method: Walking Distance: 22.7 km At 5:30, Kouhei is already done packing his tent and sitting on the bench. Why does he have to be so Japanese (early) ?! No matter. I roll out of Aurelie’s tent inhale the morning dew on the grass. Despite an initially sleepless night, it was one of the best sleeps I’ve had. Aurelie was right – the grass was more comfortable than the bench I originally chose. It was a valiant effort to set up a lopsided tent,…
