We actually got here yesterday, but only stayed for about 10 minutes before boarding another train to Koya-San. No bullet trains this time, just a local train. Picture riding the c-train all the way to Banff and you wouldn't be far off.
Koya-San is the birthplace of Buddhism in Japan, so aside from one small street with restaurants and shops (population ~4000), its full of monastaries, temples, and not much else. That's not a bad thing though. Very quiet and relaxing. We spent most of the day in transit getting there from Hiroshima, then toured a couple temples before heading to the monastery we were staying at. I was picturing some remote mountain place a la Tibet, but it was actually more close to the ryokan we stayed at in Hakone, including the sleeping mat on the floor, but add in monks that prepare and serve your food. The meal was very much like the one I loved so much in Hakone too, except vegetarian. I enjoyed it, as well as the vegetarian breakfast as well, but not everyone agreed. I am pretty sure I'm the only one on this trip who has managed to gain weight. It's all been delicious as far as I'm concerned.
Other than a creepy night-time walk through the cemetery culminating in a short stop at the temple where Kukai, who brought Buddhism to Japan from China some 800 years ago, is said to still be meditating, the real highlight was this morning.
We were awakened at half-six (as my British travelmates like to say), and called to prayers. We sat in a room filled with shrines as 3 monks entered the room, knelt before the shrines, and commenced a kind of song/prayer I had never heard before. Imagine an Asian flavoured Gregorian chant and you'd be pretty close. No cameras allowed unfortunately, it would have been great to record. It's still ringing in my ears. After about 20 minutes of that, we were invited to move forward and take a pinch of incense to sprinkle on what must have been hot ashes, because it went up in smoke as soon as it landed, releasing a wonderful smell that eventually filled the whole room, all whilst the monks continued their prayers. I doubt that's something the average tourist gets to experience, but I thought it a grand experience and left for the train station smiling at how fortunate and blessed I am to be able to do something like this. Not even 25% done, it's already been an incredible trip!
Not much to say about Osaka... Dotombori and Den Den seem like cool areas to explore, but the only thing I was aware of here was the aquarium (supposed to one of the largest in the world, complete with giant manta rays and 2 whale sharks), so my room-mate Lee and I headed there to kill the afternoon before re-joining the group for The Last Supper. Dinner was a total gong-show and even with a guide to translate we couldn't seem to communicate with them at all. Eventually the manager had to come out to settle the bill given all the items we'd ordered and been charged for, even though they were never delivered. A fairwell night of course isn't complete without another round of Karoeke, so we headed off to find that before bidding everyone good-bye. This one actually had a Crash Test Dummies song on tap, so I managed to hold my own better than last time.
Our group tour is now technically over, although several people are spending a few extra days here. A couple of us are going to try to do an early morning trip to Nara as I've heard that's a nice place, and hopefully get back in time to find some doctor fish before heading to the airport for my overnight flight to Cairns.
Thus begins the next leg of my adventure: Australia. I have a free day in Cairns so I'll hopefully get some more photos up before trying my hand at scuba diving. Stay tuned...
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