7 days in and I am so disillusioned with this hike, I can handle the tough and the rough, after all, I walked 1000 miles with Brother Deep just last year, but the walk had personality and variation, this is asphalt after asphalt, and the odd mountain in between. I am really working on my attitude,,,as you can tell.
Climbing the hill this morning it was sunny at last and I was alone, when youe walking by yourself and feeling in a good place, there is something special about that, and as i came around a bend, there was this little deer of sorts standing in the pact. It didnt mind me at all, till I got to within 10 feet of it, then it trotted off into the trees. That was a great moment as I felt more connected than I had the whole trip.

Some Bamboo forest today, a treat for about 2 hours, and as it turns out, today would be "animal day",I happily hobbled on up the mountian enjoying the sun, then I saw my first snake, all the literature warn you of the snakes as some can be deadly, but most pilgrims never see them.

Here was one, about two feet long right by the path, brown in color and certainly not dangerous, he even allowed me to take this photo,

I was a happy boy just then. About 50 yards later, another, bigger one slipped past in front of me, today was a good day, I think the Bamboo forest where i was walking must be a favorite place for them.
The humidity is at 94 percent today, not much lower on the other days, except when it's 100 percent and bucketing down with rain. No matter the weather, it seems I'm wet one way or another which is keeping my feet soft, and the street pounding is now becoming a major issue. I'm normally mentally strong in these situations, I've even been accused of being stubborn to my own detriment in situations like this, but I feel a little defeated if I'm going to be honest with myself, and I know its the nutrition, or lack thereof.
As I walked on, I forgot about the snakes as I was focused on my knee swelling, just as well, as right thern, this huge fat charcoal snake darted across right at my feet, this WAS was a Pit Viper, the bad type of snake, and it scared the crap out of me.
I would have taken a photo for the blog, but it's really hard to get the camera out and set up, while your 3 feet in the air,,,,,,,,,,,and trying very hard not to land.

Of course, it started to rain again this afternoon and the trails in the forest became dangerous

I got to temple 22 at about 1pm, and decided to push on a bit towards temple 23, again a bad move, I just can't stop mid day and sit around, there is nothing to do, nothing to see, no coffee shops, no museums, no one to socialize with etc
It took me another 23 Km before I found a place to stay at 7 pm, by then dinner is not an option, just a bed,  I was exhausted and had covered about 40 km today, about 90 percent of that was on hard pavement and along a trucking route. Seems along the way I lost my favorite Vietnamese sunglasses,I loved those things.
 I have got to sleep and see how I feel tomorrow. My concerns is, there is a Typhoon coming, and that will keep me pigeon holed in one spot for days,,and that will drive me nuts.
Food is a concern, not that the food is bad, it just does not have the calories or nutrition one needs to do what I'm doing. I feel like I'm starving my body, I stop at Fast markets and get white bread ham and cucumber sandwiches, a pint of milk, some cookies, but that won't help for long.
I would die for a McDonalds right now, and most people have never heard that from me before ? I just can't explain the lack of that kind of opportunity here. The villages close at 6 pm , so finding a banana or a fruit ( I recognize) must be done earlier in the day.  Coffee, who said coffee.