Day 55 - Kagoshima, The Kyushu 108 Temple Pilgrimage, Japan

 

 

Day 55 - Kagoshima, The Kyushu 108 Temple Pilgrimage, Japan

It was a very windy and cold day when we arrived in Kagoshima city.

For a moment, I regretted that I had put my warm hat and gloves in the box that we shipped yesterday to the hotel where we will be staying in ten days’ time.

As we walked through the city, I found myself looking at the stores selling warm scarves, hats and gloves.

But the weather forecast said that today would be the only windchill cool day of the week, and that the wind would be mild and the temperatures would warm up and stay warm the whole week.

So I averted my eyes from the stores, put my hands in the pockets of my coat and kept walking.

Of course in the city, it is so easy to stay warm.

All the malls and cafes are well heated, perhaps even overheated.

The city of Kagoshima doesn’t have a lot to offer to tourists.

The once beautiful castle is in ruins and only the main gate has been reconstructed.

The Art museum shows minor works of French impressionists, and since we are staying in the center of town, we see all the sights as we walk to dinner or return to the hotel.

But even though the city was not loaded with attractions, we were happy to be here.

It was a good place to enjoy the comforts of a city, and rest a bit from being on the road.

I also wanted to buy a bigger tea flask, because the one we bought in Bangkok before the pilgrimage has only a capacity of 500ml, which is about the size of one venti sized cup at Starbucks.

It was too small for two people on a cold walking day.

Besides, it seemed to leak a little.

Finding a new tea flask that was big but not heavy, insulated to keep the tea warm and with a filter on the top, so we can brew loose leaf tea, turned out to be a project.

We said to ourselves that it wasn’t about the tea flask, but about seeing the city on foot, while having a loose goal of finding the perfect tea flask. 

If it happened it would be great, but if it didn’t, something else would happen down the road.

Besides, I wasn’t sure my tea flask was really leaking, perhaps I overfilled it or didn’t close it properly…

We sat in the warmth of the Starbucks, drinking tea and organizing my notes, photos and writing.

We had a lunch of Soup curry, a dish we fell in love with while we stayed in Sapporo in Hokkaido.

The hot curry soup is made to your spice preference, and you choose the toppings and the size of steamed rice you want.

We had the vegetarian special, which was loaded with roasted Maitaki mushrooms, carrots, charred green peppers, broccoli, pumpkin slices and fresh greens.

It was so delicious that we wondered how successful this restaurant would be if it opened a branch in our area in Vail.

They would be so busy we would never get a table, especially on cool winter days after skiing.

We walked around the city.

At one intersection, I saw a young mother with a baby.

She seemed to have fallen down and her face was bleeding.

Another woman rushed to help and so did I.

I took out a new small towel from our backpack, that our Onsen hotel had given us as a souvenir and handed it to her, while the other woman held the baby.

The young woman’s clothes were covered in stains as if she was living rough, or perhaps had run away from a difficult situation at home…

Another woman came to help.

She held the baby and took the young woman by the hand, saying that there was a clinic nearby that can bandage her.

Even hurt and overwhelmed, the young woman bowed to me multiple times and thanked me for the towel.

I saw a man living in the park.

He had wrapped aluminum foil around his head and covered his face with a plastic bag.

All his belongings were in plastic bags, and he had lots of bags around him.

The human condition can be glorious for some, and so tragic for others…

We walked to check into our onsen city hotel.

They gave us a spacious Japanese tatami mat room equipped with everything we needed.

It was so nice to wear Yukatas and soak in the hot springs.

We bundled up and went to have dinner at a very popular pizza place.

The pizza was delicious, thin crust, big and made with great ingredients imported from Italy, and it cost only 500 yen ($3.50) per pizza.

It made us wonder how they could make any money, or how they can buy such great ingredients and still be able to make any profit.. or even how they did not lose money and get into debt…

Sending you love and happiness,

Tali 

Stats: 20,241 steps 

Today’s walk: 14 km 

Kilometers walked to date: 931

Temples visited: none

The photos in this post are not from Kagoshima.

They are “sad photos” we photographed all over our pilgrimage.

They are of schools that closed because there are no more kids growing up in those towns.

They are of discarded items that were once loved.

They are of old homes allowed to deteriorate.

Some of these decaying houses, are still occupied by old people who lived their whole lives in those homes.

They are struggling to survive and keep their homes.

Some people have cars full of trash.

You see all sorts of things when you walk through life…