Uranouchi Bay to Susaki

 

After alighting from the small ferryboat, I briskly head west towards Susaki where I have a room booked for the night.

It's late November so the days are relatively short with 10 hours of sunshine, and I started the day well before sunrise, but I still have about 10k to go to reach mu hotel so don't dawdle.

I pass a few small wayside shrines....

It's been some time since the rice was cut and harvested but the stalks have had a couple of months to start regrowing

This small henro hut was one used for overnight stays.... there was a portaloo nearby, running water, and an electricity outlet.... right next to the road but a welcome spot for those on a tight budget. I do get the impression that nowadays sleeping out on the henro trail is discouraged and frowned upon, and that is a real shame as it has always been a pilgrimage for the less well off "traveller"  rather than a package tour for tourists.

Approaching Susaki, the other side of the road and river is a huge industrial complex.

I believe this was a Kibune Shrine, but with the sun going down, I did not stop and explore...

It is a huge cement plant with a power station..... I know making cement uses a huge amount of heat, but am not sure if the power plant is to generate the power to produce the cement or if the heat used to produce the cement is used to make electricity.....

Though the standard catch-phrase for Japan in media is "resource-poor", it is in fact totally self-sufficient in cement and concrete...

As the small river I was walking down reaches the bigger Sakura River a big heron takes off...

The Sakura River widens at this point just before emptying into the sea and the setting sun paints a nice picture as I cross over into Susaki and get close to my bed for the night.

And so ends my 18th day walking along the Shikoku 88 temple pilgrimage known as Ohenro.

The previous post was on the ferry ride up Uranouchi Bay.