It takes around 2 hours to get to Mount Koya from Osaka. And to do so one needs to take a train, then a cablecar and a bus that winds up a little road and drops you off in front of the local town center.
We arrived just in time for the annual parade to celebrate the birthday of Kobo Daishi (June 14-15), who founded the Shingon school of Buddhism here anno 819. Our ‘hotel’ was one of the gazillion temples, our first time sleeping in a futon on the tatami! Unfortunately we didn’t get to see as much we wanted to, partly because we were dog tired, but also we went to ‘futon’ early as we were invited to join in the morning prayer and fire ceremony.
The highlight in Koyasan is definitely the Okunoin cemetery. We went early morning as the mist was still hanging over the mountains. Pure magic. I took some amazing pics as I brought my external flash with me and Bram played Peeping Sun Through The Trees – this is now his new native American name. He also played Flashing Yukata in our temple room, no pictures of that, promise 😉
We both loved Koyasan, sad we have to leave already, but it’s on to Shikoku island now, our first trip with the Shinkansen, bullet train!!!
Some pictures from the photo-log ( iPhones are darn handy for traveling):
Continue reading Koyasan
