Pilgrimage People Part 3!!!

Because the people have become more interesting than some random dusty temples

Moped man aka Rockman- This outgoing weirdo chatted me up while I was waiting for a ferry to cross a bay to get to temple 33. Personable but slightly pushy, he rode a green moped with a plastic bag on the back. He was so impressed with my dedication that he decided to give me a gift from his bag: rocks. His bag was filled with various green, white, and red rocks. I guess he likes Italy or something. It's super impolite to refuse gifts as a pilgrim, so I begrudgingly accepted the frickin rocks, even though more weight is literally the last thing a backpacker needs. I shipped the rocks back home, along with a bunch of other random crap. Thanks moped man!

Mr. Ikegami- Even though I said that Mr. Okuda was the Gustave H. of his establishment, Mr. Ikegami was the real deal, a concierge with class. Tall, polite, and decent with English, he made me feel like a king after the climb up the hill to his beloved National Hotel near temple 36. He redid portions of the hotel to look just like those white buildings in Greece, and combined with the beautiful view of the Kochi coastline, the resemblance was uncanny. Even better, he keeps a menagerie of critters at the hotel to play with! He had a flemish giant rabbit, a ferret, a hedgehog, and my personal favorite, an adorable stinky little piglet. Check out Kristine Sinajons facebook page for the video of the pig attack. So Mr. Ikegami, I salute you.

Kevin and Kevin`s dad- Kevin is a Japanese kid in the Shikoku area who was staying at the National Hotel with his dad. What's confusing is that he has an American name, and like me, was born in Hawaii! After I asked him what the heck was going on, he assured me that he is 100% Japanese. I went down the list of the usual getting to know you questions, and it turns out he's a big Steph Curry fan! Go Warriors! His dad was even more of a trip. Fluent in English, he lived in both the East Bay and SoCal for a while. His obsession with America seems to be even more intense than my Japanese fixation; he did have his kid born in our country after all. I performed an acapella version of Bruce Springstein's Born in the USA using a telescope as an air guitar, they seemed to dig it.

Henro Hayao- After the climb to temple 35, I was in great pain. My ankle, which I injured training for this adventure, was starting to bother me again. At the pilgrim snack shack next to the temple, this guy, who looked like master animator Hayao Miyazaki, overheard my plight and gave me a ride back to town to get some medical supplies. He even gave me some of his icy hot ankle wraps, which I've been trying desperately to find again. There truly are no people like pilgrim people. Good kid, good kid!