Enson Inoue on 750-mile vision quest
In case any of you missed the reports this morning that former Pride fighter Enson Inoue has embarked on a…
In case any of you missed the reports this morning that former Pride fighter Enson Inoue has embarked on a 1,200-kilometer spiritual journey on the Japanese island of Shikoku, here’s the Spark Notes version: Inoue is attempting to complete the island’s celebrated 88 Temples Pilgrimage, in which travelers don white clothes and sedge hats in order to retrace the steps of a famous Buddhist monk said to have made the journey in the latter stages of the eighth century. Given that it’s now 2010, most people do it by bus. Enson plans to walk the nearly 750 miles, even though he’s been warned that he might die from the heat.
Also, since no 21st-Century spiritual journey would be complete without continuous, near real-time commentary from the pilgrim himself, Inoue is going to be updating his blog the whole way. Anyway, it’s now day two of the walk and so far, things don’t seem to be going so well …
The people at the temple said the heat is really bad now and that it was impossible to make it without staying at a hotel, When I heard that it became a challenge for me. When I told the old man that I wasn’t going to stay in a hotel he replied, ‘There is no way you can make it without staying in a hotel.’ I then responded by saying that there was no way I was going to stay in a hotel and he repeated it 3 times that it was impossible. At that moment I decided in my heart that even if I were at the brink of death, I wasn’t going to stay not even 1 night in a hotel.
My treak to the 1st of the new 20 temples, Daizanji was horrible, Inoue wrote at the end of day one. I got lost and ended up walking an extra 7 miles. My shoulders and legs are cramping. I then barely made before the temples closing time at 5pm.
Oh No. It got dark before I could make it out of the mountain. Can’t see a thing. What am I going to do…
I lost my map in the dark. Don’t now my way out.
Finally found a landromatt. I didn’t eat anything since breakfast. Oh wall… I’m going to get some rest. Sorry for making you all worry.