Shikoku Idyll

Hanging Ten in Shikoku

Every Group Needs a Hug... I Mean a Thug

I'm So Tired

I'm so tired, I haven't slept a wink
I'm so tired, my mind is on the blink
I wonder should I get up and fix myself a drink
No,no,no.

Green Buddha

That day we left Tokushima City in a surge of media attention. The TV crew was there to film us as we packed our bikes and rode off. But in the afternoon some hard rains started washing over Shikoku. We found ourselves pushing our bikes up a mountain. When we got to the temple at the top, a cold wind was blowing. We took refuge from the cold, the wind and the rain in the bathroom, of all places. But when we finally gathered ourselves and entered the temple, the rain conveniently ceased its falling and we were sheltered from the wind. I took this photo through the mist. I danced a jig. We rode down the mountain and checked into an inn. I missed the report on TV, because I was out riding my bike around town, looking for food, beer, and a new raincoat (I found all three). The next morning the sun was shining. We took a cable car up to the next temple, full of optimism and happy thoughts.

Ship's Ahoy, Matey!

Clowning around in the playground. The body makes me look fat but I did ride 85 k that day.

Japanese landscape (Tokushima prefecture)

Monk Doing Calligraphy

If you do the Shikoku pilgrimage, you can get a book and have it stamped and signed at each temple. I decided to do it. For 300 yen, they will stamp it in red and then do calligraphy over the top. You also get a slip of paper with a unique picture of Buddha. At temple one you buy an empty book with a page for every temple. So, at the end, you have a book with calligraphy done by 90 different artists at 90 different temples (88 in Shikoku and two in Koyasan on the main island).