Day 11 - Tsunami

My laundry from yesterday evening was not quite dry, so I used a hair-dryer (for the first time in over twenty years) to warm up some of the clothes before I put them on, still damp. I had another long day of walking ahead of me, so had a carb-rich energy breakfast of rice, potato salad, pasta salad, toast and coffee. Just another day of plodding, no temples, I would only make it as far as my Ryokan today.

 

I saw two surfers in the early morning, in wetsuits, carrying their boards to the beach. Later this morning I saw a monkey, I have never seen a wild monkey before. It started to run across the road, saw me, turned around and ran back into the trees. I stood with my camera out for the next 10 minutes in case it returned, but of course it didn`t. This happened at quite an unimpressive section of road, with nothing at all picturesque in the vicinity, so I received a few curious stares from local people, as I stood poised with my camera with nothing to take a photo of.

 

 

 

At 15:40 hours I heard a siren. I asked a chap standing outside his house what it was and he told me "Tsunami keihou". I quickly looked up keihou - warning, but Tsunami was one Japanese word that I didn`t need to translate. He didn`t seem overly concerned, so I tried not to be either, but I quickened my pace. When I arrived at the ryokan it was about 16:00, Okaasan told me that her house was 10m above sea level, and the tsunami - which was expected to arrive in this area at 16:30 - was only estimated to be 2m. My room was very comfortable, with two easy chairs by the window looking out to sea. So I sat and watched the sea, and watched a group of people standing down by the sea-wall who were also staring out to sea. Police cars and fire engines were now driving up and down the road with their lights flashing, making announcements on their PA systems, and a helicopter was flying overhead. Someone in a uniform just shouted something to the group by the sea-wall but they didn`t move. Shikoku was not badly affected by the tsunami, I watched the sea but it looked calm and the sea-watchers outside gradually left, I didn`t know the full extent of the damage in other parts of Japan.

 

 

 

• Distance walked today = 36.2k
• Distance walked so far = 231.3km
• Temples visited today = nil
• Koban visited today = nil
• Accommodation = ryokan including two meals ￥6000 Muroto Sou, Muroto Misaki, Kochi-ken 〒781-7101 
• Expenditure today = two drinks ￥260
• Settai = some chocolate from another walking henro, and a big bottle of Asahi Japanese lager from another Henro at the evening meal in the Ryokan