I went down for breakfast on the dot of seven. The menu was the same as the previous day. After breakfast I went back to my room and finished packing. Before heading down to check out I glanced out the window and noticed that people outside had their umbrellas up. It was raining again. I spent a while deciding whether or not to put my raingear on. In the end I did, and of course it stopped raining soon after I left.
I was out of the hotel by 8.45am. As had become my routine by now, I took two breaks in the morning, the first at 9.45 and the second at 10.45. I also stopped for a while to watch some school kids playing football. Football is very popular in Shizuoka, the prefecture having two teams in the top Japanese league: Shimizu S-Pulse and Jubilo Iwata. I'd soon be passing Shimizu, and I'd stayed in Iwata a few days earlier.
At about 11.30am, as I was approaching Shimizu, I noticed a young walker behind me on the opposite side of the road. He was carrying a staff and wearing a conical hat of the kind worn by people on pilgrimages in Japan. At the speed he was approaching it wouldn’t be long before he passed me, so I got ready to greet him and thought of a few questions I might ask him. But moments later he passed without a word and without even acknowledging me. This kind of attitude by fellow walkers was starting to piss me off. I didn't expect everyone I passed to stop and engage in lengthy conversation, but to totally ignore a fellow walker struck me as extremely rude.I was quite angry for a while, but I soon lost sight of him and my mind moved on to different matters, such as finding a place for lunch. But about twenty minutes later I saw him just up ahead. He was sitting by the side of the road having a break. I crossed the road and said hello. The first thing he did was apologize for not stopping earlier. He then explained that he was walking around the entire country and that he had an extremely demanding schedule. He had hardly slept the previous night (he was sleeping rough) and had to be in Shimizu in time to catch a train to meet a friend back in Shizuoka. He then gave me a polite bow with one hand raised in front of him as if blessing me and went on his way. I was left feeling somewhat guilty about being filled with so much anger when he passed me earlier.
At Shimizu I found a CoCo curry restaurant by the station and had a seafood curry. I then went down the road to a Mister Donut and had a coconut chocolate donut and an iced coffee. I left Shimizu at 1.15pm.
Okitsu was just 5km away. I was back on the coast by this stage. I passed an intriguing billboard indicating I was near the spot where in 1889 Crown Prince Yoshihito (later the Taisho Emperor) bathed by the sea, an act that apparently made the small seaside town famous. I spent a few minutes walking around trying to find it, but all I could see was a park with people playing gateball and the entrance to a very busy dock. Perhaps one or the other was the famous spot, but I was none the wiser as a result of my little excursion.
Further on I looked up and realized I could see the top of Mount Fuji above the hills in front of me. This was my first view of the sacred mountain, so I climbed a pedestrian bridge to get a better view and took several photos. I was surprised to see it still covered in what looked to be a thick layer of snow, as the climbing season was due to start in just a few weeks.
I reached Okitsu at around 3.30pm. Before checking in to my hotel, I had a good look at the hill just beyond it. At the top of the hill was Satta Pass, which I would have to climb first thing the next morning. I then looked at the modern highway which skirts around the coast at the bottom of the hill. For the briefest of moments I thought how easy it would be to give the pass a miss tomorrow and take the highway instead. I quickly turned around and went into my hotel.
The moment I entered the lobby I regretted my choice of accommodation for that night. The hotel adjoined a hot spring resort. Being a Saturday, it was packed with people using the facilities for the day. I think my reaction would have been different if people were in traditional yukata, but instead of yukata the resort provided their quests with the ugliest of orange pyjamas, and nearly everyone was wearing them. To make matters worse, I had to put my shoes in a locker on entering the hotel and then hand the key over at reception, which made me feel trapped. At least my room had an ocean view.
I did some hand-washing and watched some TV and then left my room to look around the hotel some more. I ended up on the ground floor where there were a number of restaurants. I went into a noodle place and ordered the sakura-ebi kakiage tendon (tempura vegetables and "sakura" shrimp on rice). Sakura-ebi are tiny shrimp caught in the bay off Okitsu and are a local delicacy, so I was keen to try them prepared in the traditional manner. I wasn't disappointed. The meal was fantastic. I was feeling a little less gloomy now, so I ordered some soba ice cream for dessert. I also struck up a conversation with the people at the next table. They were local tea farmers who often came to enjoy the hot springs for the day. I was intrigued about tea farming and asked them a bit about their industry. Their main concern seemed to be competition from tea imported from China. They invited me to share whatever it was they were drinking (I suspected shochu), but I politely declined. So after exchanging business cards (I'd left mine in my room and had to go back to get one) I called it a night.
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