I haven’t counted how many mosquito bites I have on my body, but I’m sure they are at least 20. Last night, I woke up every hour (at least) just to scratch them over and over again.

I brought from Germany a sort of post-bite lotion but it’s not enough. I would bathe in it if I could, but I only have 5 mL of it.

The day began with a large breakfast and some thin rain. I could hear loud thunders throughout the night, so eventually I was happy with a few clouds and a bit of water.

The coast of Cape Muroto-Misaki is full of references to the life of Kōbō Daishi. His followers erected a big statue representing him in his youth, looking at the ocean.

After a while, I began to climb the rock that separates Shikoku’s East coast from the Southern one. At the top, the temple n. 24, called Hotsumisakiji, was my reward. Heat and humidity made me sweat quite a lot, although the steep climb didn’t last long.

A few minutes after I arrived there, the Sun came out and the day soon became very warm, reaching a maximum temperature of 28 °C in the afternoon.

I got a strong desire to just jump into the ocean, but I had two more temples in my crosshair as today’s goals, so eventually there was no time for that.

Temple #25 was easy to reach. What I didn’t take into account was the big staircase that leads to the main hall of the temple. I couldn’t help but swear quite loudly when I first saw it.

All things considered, however, it wasn’t a hard day for me. There were some steep parts both up and downhill, but I took it easy because of my knees. Tomorrow there will be a bigger climb to the temple #27. It will be my final test to see whether or not I have a problem with them.

Last but not least, I went to see the sunset on the beach. It became cloudy as soon as the sun light was weak enough for me to take direct pictures of it. 

I took it as a nice middle finger from the God of Dawn and Dusk Pictures. Thank you.

I still have many days along the coast. Hopefully the aforementioned God will soon allow me to take some decent photos of the sun going either up or down from the horizon. It would be highly ironical for me to leave the land of the Rising Sun without an actual picture of the Sun rising.

Tonight, before going to sleep and between one scratch and the other, I will sacrifice a few selfies to him. That should calm him down and gain me some good favours.

I need his blessing, otherwise I will have carried a lot of equipment for nothing. On a journey like mine, that would be a giant mistake. One I’m not willing to make.