The ferry crossing was quite rough. I lay in a half-sleep, thinking about Kobo Daishi's dangerous crossing to China by ship, and, on a personal level, of the irony of walking an 850 mile pilgrimage only to die at sea two days later. (Ever the drama queen.) It had been a good evening, though. I'd met a Finnish traveller, a monk from Detroit and a Japanese couple planning on doing the Shikoku pilgrimage. I'd also had the ferry's communal bath all to myself as I gazed out to sea, watching the last of Japan's islands disappear into the distance. I'd lived in, on and along that country for two months and this was goodbye. On reaching South Korea's busy port city of Busan, I was so excited and impatient to meet Seth the next day that ... read more

from matsuyama, i walked to hojo, visiting temples 52 and 53 on the way. it was a hot day and my energy was zapped, yet the little port town was pretty. at sunset, i walked along the harbour. there were lots of old folk in floppy sunhats and slippers gossiping in the streets. i had the feeling that, after id passed them and wished them konbanwa (good evening), they might gossip about me, too. the sun set over the kashima hojo island, a big green lump in the seto inland sea, and the water turned pink. big herons flew from boat to boat. i felt lazy, and not much like i wanted to walk on the next day, yet i had to, so i did. after hojo, i found myself in a seemingly endless stream of ... read more

i had set two goals. to reach the remote cape ashizuri misaki, location of temple 38, and to leave kochi prefecture - the biggest, longest, most difficult of shikokus four prefectures, in a henro sense of looking at life. im very happy to tell you that both goals are in the bag, though not without a small crisis of faith and one big bloody mountain along the way. the day i left kochi city, everything went wrong. i woke up too late, i didnt have enough time to get to all of my intended temples, it was swelteringly hot and i got lost. on the way to temple 31, chikurinji, i kept emerging　into the botanical gardens, much to my own distress as well as those whod been innocently looking at exotic plants when a mad henro ... read more

Well, here i am, six days in, and I'm in the city of Tokushima, resting my feet for a day - it may have to be two - because i can hardly walk for blisters. I have about seven and they are oozing various gross substances. (i always end up writing about puke and ooze in my blogs, don't i? The realities of travel!) My dad tells me they should harden up in a day or two, but yesterday it took me seven hours to hobble eight miles which isn't good. Still, I'm holding out hope for a recovery within the next 24 hours. I've still got 71 temples to go! I have come 62 miles. I'm kitted out with the hat, the hakui shirt and the staff, much to the amusement, I'm sure, of many ... read more

On my first night in Dubai, i kicked back with a bottle of Asahi beer on the terrace of the Bahri Bar, and regarded the Burj Al-Arab as it shifted colours from green to pink, and sent beams of light dancing across the sky from it's rooftop. I like this dhow-inspired, world famous building but i don't think i respect it very much. A glass bottomed swimming pool, restaurant in an aquarium, dancing fountains, extortionate suites and thirty quid cocktails? Let's face it, it's pretty silly. Not that silliness should be discouraged but as Abdullah the laughing taxi driver told me later, 'who is paying this much money just to sleep, habipti?' I spent a day trying to take in what are considered to be the city sights. As is often the case, the more interesting ... read more