Today was a long walk from temple 17 to temple 18, the distance was about 20 km and I decided to follow the original Kobo Daisha trail. (In some areas, they have developed a new easier route for the pilgrims, which is also more direct)  the alternative trail was a little longer but went through the city, which meant asphalt.. off I went and the country trail I was following turned into asphalt country roads again,I HATE ASPHALT. I later came to a climb through a forested area which was crazy overgrown, 

no one seems to take the real trail these days, spiders everywhere

 it was obvious no one  ever takes this trail, it was steep and overgrown with sharp serrated weeds.
 More the problem, was the spiders. I was continually looking down at the trail, so would walk into these huge spider webs across my face, I would look up and there would be this 3 inch across, yellow bellied spider looking at me from the tip of my sedge hat, and saying" dude, take me back to my tree branch,,,NOW".
 If your like me, when you walk into a spider web  face first, I do about two weeks of cardio in three seconds flat
Now I know to stay on the tourist trail from now on.

gifts to the gods

i took shelter from the incessant rain today in someone's porch, and actually fell asleep for awhile

and again, up we go to the temple.

I got to Temple 18 and was feeling pretty low, my feet hurt, but the asphalt was relentless.
 I realized how isolated I was starting to feel, I had not met or spoken tio someone in English for this whole trip. I expected this somewhat, but not this isolated, most of my long hikes, i have met people along the way. I'm a social animal and I was struggling with the solitude I guess. This walk was becoming a real mental and physical challenge for me, I knew there would be quite a bit of asphalt too, but this was getting ridiculous now, and it was taking a toll on my knees.

Im wondering what its like to be dry, hope to find a place to sleep and eat, in this village

It was not too far to the next two temples, so I headed out to get them done today, and start tomorrow fresh as it's a long climb to temple 20, of course!

Im suprised they didnt make me swim across the river, seeing as I was wet anyway

beautiful scenery today

a group of devitees at the temple, they are doing it by bus