There was 1 of 2 ways I could get up to Koyasan: I could do it the easy lazy tourist way and do a combination of train, cable car, and bus (all run by the same company, unfortunately not JR) to get to the top, or I could do it the way of the old religious pilgrimages by taking on a 8 hour hike through the mountains. Being one who likes to experience things to the fullest when possible, I decided to plan for the long hike. Unfortunately, (because there was a typhoon approaching Japan), it was forecast to rain the next day, and I really didn’t feel like hiking that long, mostly uphill, in the rain. So I ultimately had to settle on getting there the lazy tourist way.
While planning my next day at the hostel, I ran into another Canadian traveller, Kyle (from Ottawa), who I had already bumped into 2 times earlier in Hiroshima and Fukuoka. I couldn’t believe I had run into him 3 times now! So of course we ended up chatting for a while sharing more travel stories and talking about back home. Then we found out as we rode the elevator back to our rooms that we were in the same room; K’s House Kyoto is a big hostel, so it was a major coincidence for this to happen! Repeat meetings with other travellers always surprises me. It’s a good thing I decided to get to Koyasan the lazy way though, because it was almost midnight by the time we finished hanging out and there just so happened to be yet another loud snorer in my room, and I would have had to wake up at 6AM the next morning to do the hike. The surprising thing about the snorer? It was thing tiny Japanese girl (come on, you wouldn’t expect that haha)! Kyle warned me about her since he had been her ehte previous night, but I stupidly didn’t believe him about how loud she was. She was definitely the loudest snorer I had encountered so far; so loud that she woke me up at 1AM (and it was worse for me because I was on the bunk above her) and I couldn’t fall back asleep...I caved after an hour of this and headed down to the reception to buy a pair of ear plugs (luckily the Kyoto one has 24 hour reception, one of the few in Japan), and they didn’t even do that much except slightly dampen her snoring because she was so loud.
So the next day, I caught the shinkansen before noon to Osaka, where the train for Koyasan departs. After a long 3.5 hour journey (it felt longer because it was so boring), I finally arrived at the temple I had decided to stay, Fukuchi-in. And it was in fact raining (I’m sure you know how weather forecasts are often a bit wrong for more remote places), so I felt a bit more reassured that I made the right choice. I think it goes without saying that because shukubo has become such a popular thing at Koyasan and it has become a very touristy thing to do, with all the accompanying organization and upgrading facilities undergo to attract more tourists. So I was surprised when I got to the temple that inside, it was run basically as a hotel. That being said, it was still a very nice temple, though probably not nearly as authentic as it probably was years ago. Although there were slightly cheaper options in the area, I chose this temple because it was supposedly the only one on Koyasan with onsen (not just a hot water bath), and it housed a small collection of artifacts.
I saw this in the convenie on the way to Kyoto station, and I knew I had to try it. It was actually really good, quite sweet.
I grabbed a quick McD’s lunch in Osaka before the train to Koyasan arrived. I tried their McPork, which I’m pretty sure wasn’t real pork (oh disgusting McD’s) and of course, the regionspecific Ebi Burger (shrimp burger!)! It was actual shrimps, pressed together into a patty and deep-fried, sort of like a Filet-o-Fish but with shrimp. I got 2 sandwiches because I knew I wouldn’t have the chance to eat any meat for the next 24 hours or so..
One of the drink machines at the train station. I liked the names of the coffee drinks (like the cappuccino was called “The Italian” and the café au lait was called “The Creamy”).
My journey to Koyasan on the train, cable car (which was quite steep), and the bus.
By the time I got settled in, took a look around the temple, and rested for a bit with a small welcome snack and tea the temple provided, it was already 4:30PMish, so I headed into the small town to have a look around. Because everything closed by 5PM, I really only had enough time to see one temple, so I headed to the nearby Kongobuji temple, the head monastery of the Shingon sect. Then another occurrence of everything happens for a reason: I had put on the lens hood on my camera to shelter the lens from the rain (I had been debating whether it was worth it since it was only a drizzle), and when I entered the temple and was taking off my boots, my camera fell out of its camera bag onto the hard wooden floor (I must not have put it in securely enough)! Luckily, they way it fell, it landed lens first, and because I had put the hood on, the hood took most of the shock of the landing and saved my lens from any damage! Of course the hood (made of plastic) cracked in several places and actually flew right off the lens, but amazingly it did not completely shatter or fall apart (I’m still using it now after applying a little super glue and tape). Obviously it’s much better to have a broken lens hood versus a broken lens. Kudos again to Canon for making such a sturdy camera, and enjoy some of its photos:
Finally at Fukuchi-in. The 1st photo is of the entrance gate, not the temple itself (it was too big to get a picture of it). The room looks a bit dark in the first 2 photos I took of my tatami mat room, but it was actually well-lit (I just didn’t adjust my camera settings properly). I was greeted with a manju (this one was baked brown; it’s baked flour dough with azuki paste inside, though it can be filled other fillings) and a cup of green tea.
A look around Fukuchi-in and the treasures it had on display. Those were real samurai suits(!)...man, people were small back in the day haha. The samurai with the jade Christian cross on the helmet was very surprising and intriguing to see (I didn’t get a chance to ask any of the staff of its history though).
On the main street of Koyasan...like I said, it’s a small town.
At Kongobuji. It is known for the artwork on its many sliding doors (I stopped taking photos of them after I saw a sign to not take photos of them)
Enjoying a “free” snack in the prayer/homily room (I’m not entirely sure what the room is for to be honest) of the temple...it was included as part of the ticket combo pack I bought to get to Koyasan. It was just a cup of green tea and a large sweetened rice cracker, but it was pretty good (especially the rice cracker).
More views inside Kongobuji, after I finished my snack.
It was 5PM by the time I finished looking around the temple, so there wasn’t much else to see in town. So I headed off to the "nearby" Okuno-in, the sacred temple containing the mausoleum of Kobo Daishi (where it is believed he is eternally meditating) and situated at the top of a long path through Japan's largest (and most popular) graveyard. It was a quiet, wet, 45 minute climb through the graveyard to get to Okuno-in. Being a very scared place to the Japanese, no photography were allowed even in the vicinity of the temple, so again, all I have are memories. Luckily I got there just in time before they started to close the doors to the temple, so I still got to look around. It was completely dark when I headed back towards town (the path through the graveyard actually was lighted, though not very well), so I found it to be quite eerie at times hahaha.
Some of the temples along the main road as I made my way to the graveyard of Okuno-in.
Through the graveyard to Okuno-in. Sorry about the dark photos, I didn’t have time to edit them, and there was very little light to work with because of the rain clouds and the tall tress (and I have no external flash for my camera).
I tried my best to get a photo of Okuno-in from outside the final bridge leading up to the temple (which is where the area prohibiting photography started). Zooming to the max in very low light without a tripod leads to very blurry photos.
Heading back into town through the graveyard. You can easily tell the tall lamps they put up didn’t really provide much lighting; and you can compare the 4th and 5th photos to see how dark the path was (I took the same photo with and without flash).
When I got back to Fukuchi-in, I was greeted with dinner being served (I made it back just in time for when I asked to be served dinner). In my opinion, the shojin ryori were one of the best parts of shukubo, so I was very excited to have dinner and very satisfied at the end. No meat, poultry, egg, fish, onion, garlic, and other root vegetables are used in shojin ryori. It was surprisingly very tasty considering the restrictions, and the presentation was wonderful (it definitely helped to enhance the meal)...the shojin ryori themselves are experiences.
My shojin ryori dinner. Many beans and mushrooms and other Japanese veggies, but surprisingly not much tofu (bean curd was more commonly used), and some fruit for dessert. They provided a whole bucket of rice - I guess that’s how the monks actually have a filling meal. The tempura and hot pot were particularly delicious.
After dinner, I headed to the onsen to relax, and I was lucky enough to have it all to myself! And even though it was still raining, I spent some time in the outdoor bath. Then I settled in for an early sleep (since I wanted to wake up before 6AM the next day to observe the morning prayers) in the traditional Japanese bed: a futon (though this was a nice futon). I have to say that while I really enjoyed the traditional room, I enjoyed having a private room even more after having slept in dorm rooms for the past 5 weeks.
In my yukata (Japanese bath robe)!
The futon for the night.
The onsen in the temple.
Sure enough, I woke up early enough the next morning to attend the morning prayer. It was mostly Japanese tourists, except for 2 French couples and myself. Everyone simply observed (with a few Japanese tossing in coins in the prayer boxes for their own prayers)...but it was quite an experience just to watch. It was 45 minutes of constant chanting (each monk had their own different chants) at different intervals and tones and words...it was almost like a performance. Adding the dimly lit room, the gold Buddhist treasures everywhere, and the dark red/maroon carpets and walls, it was quite a spiritual atmosphere (even though I’m not a Buddhist). Obviously, no cameras were allowed...except for the French tourists...there’s always those tourists who like to ignore the respectful rules and refuse to participate in culture on every trip aren’t there? One of the ladies snuck in a compact camera in her purse and took a few pictures of the monks in morning prayer, and when I passed their rooms on the way back, I could clearly see through their open doors that they had ordered Western breakfasts (and probably dinners then)...why pay so much to not try something new?
My shojin ryori breakfast, which was also quite tasty. The hot pot had what looked like translucent brown noodles inside – some of it was noodles, some of it was some veggie that looked the exact same.
After breakfast, I headed out right away to try to see some temples before I had to catch the bus/cable car/train (in order to get to Kyoto around noonish). Unfortunately, none of the temples opened before 8:30AM, and the bus to the cable car left at 8:45AM. So I didn’t get to go inside any of the temples (though I did try to sneak a peek into one), but I did wander outside a couple of them. I probably had time to look at a few more, but it was raining and I was tired of trying to protect my camera from the rain. But despite all the costs, I think the experience was worth it; although next time, I’ll probably try to find a less common place to try shukubo to get the less touristy experience.
At the nearby Garan district, the central temple complex in Koyasan, all founded by Kobo Daishi. I ended up walking through a back entrance because I couldn’t find the main entrance (it was surprisingly not very clearly marked). The pagoda called Daito (the big red one) is actually called a tahoto, a rare kind of pagoda in Japan because it resembles the Indian stupa. It housed a giant gold cosmic Buddha statue. I didn’t pay to go in (there wasn’t anyone at the entrance anyway), so I tried to get a photo of it from outside the door.
The ride back from Koyasan. The first photo was on the cable car...I’d never seen that type of moth before, it looked so alien. The last2 photos are on the train ride back, on the single winding path through the mountains. The fog was quite thick...more reassurance I made the right choice of not hiking to Koyasan.
My last moments in Kyoto were no fun though. I planned it so that after getting into Kyoto, I would have time to walk back to the hostel (where I stored my big bag for the night for only 100 yen(!) (around $1.25 CDN), as compared to paying 600 yen (about $7.50 CDN) to store my big bag in the lockers at the train station...the K’s House hostel chain in Japan really is great), then back to Kyoto station, with time to spare to buy a bento box before my train back to Tokyo departed. Well, remember that approaching typhoon I mentioned earlier? The rain it was bringing with it caused some delays for the JR trains at Osaka, so when I finally got into Kyoto, I had to rush to the hostel and then run back to Kyoto station with my big bag on(!)...and I got onto the shinkansen literally seconds before they closed the doors. I ended up having to eat a couple of my protein bars for lunch. And so I was off on what I thought at the time was my last ride on a shinkansen...
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