Day 26 to 29 - Koyasan - Okuno-in

Okuno-in is a very large cemetery under the shade of age-old Japanese cedars. The site is as beautiful and enchanting as any California redwood forest and mixed in with the ancient trees are thousands and thousands of grave markers. You see very old lichen-eroded gravestones and new ones, from commoners to samurais and high priests.  One monument was built by an insecticide manufacturer to beg forgiveness for all the ants he exterminated.

 

This strange, serene, melancholic and deeply spiritual place makes for an unforgetable walk up the slopes of the mountian to a place where Kobo Daishi is believed to have been in a state of meditation for the last 1,200 years.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Day 26 to 29 - Koyasan - Fukuchiin

Many Buddhist monasteries on the mountain function as hotels for visitors providing traditional accommodation with an evening meal and breakfast. We stayed at Fukuchiin monastery.



 

The Schedule was: 6am chant and prayer, 7-8am breakfast... open... 6:45pm dinner, 8pm sutra copying, 9:30pm curfew, hot baths open around the clock except during 9:00am - 1:00pm cleaning. (note - all facilities are closed from 9:00am - 1:00pm, make sure you go before  :-)

 

Vegetarian food, no heater in most areas (put your wollen hat on to go brush your teeth)

 

Simple and incredibly relaxing.

 

 

Day 26 - trip to Koyasan

 On the way to Koyasan a small town high up in the mountains - pictures from the train as it meandered up the valley.

 

 

 

After the train, the cablecar. Never been on a train made of stairs.

 

 

 

About Koyasan:

Mount Koya (Koyasan) is the center of Shingon Buddhism, an important Buddhist sect which was introduced to Japan in 805 by Kobo Daishi (also known as Kukai), one of Japan's most significant religious figures. Kobo Daishi built the sect's headquarter on Koyasan's wooded mountaintop. Since then over one hundred temples have sprung up along the streets of Koyasan. The most important among them are Kongobuji, the head temple of Shingon Buddhism, and Okunoin, the site of Kobo Daishi's mausoleum.  



Day 25 - Last day in Kyoto - Kiyomizu-dera

 

On our last day in Kyoto, we visited Kiyomizu-dera, beautiful - especially at sunset.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Random... and even more random