Kansai Adventures - Part 3

A Night in a Buddhist Temple
When we arrived at the temple, a monk welcomed us and we were asked to take off our shoes. So we started changing shoes and struggled with putting on wooden platform sandals, until this lady comes out and sort of freaked out that we were wearing the monks shoes and not the guest slippers (whoops), but she laughed when I told her it was a secret. The woman led us through the temple and to our room and we were told to wait there until dinnertime. It was about 10 degrees colder on the mountain (which is COLD), so thankfully we had a space heater (which we promptly cranked way up) and a kotatsu (Japanese floor-table with a heater underneath). The room was very large, but looked exactly like a ryokan (Japanese Inn), right down to the yukata (Japanese sleeping robes), small sink on the side and way the futon (Japanese cushions) were laid out. We also had two large sliding doors (covered with rice paper) that led to a personal balcony, overlooking the inner Japanese garden and mountain-slope. Dinner, (a traditional Buddhist vegetarian cuisine; including a deep-fried leaf), was served in another, private Japanese room, with ornate shoji (decorated sliding doors) and tatami. After dinner, we went back to our room and weren’t actually sure what to do or if we were allowed to leave, so I just took a Japanese bath, we talked for a while, Claire taught me how to play “10 fingers” (the non-drinking game of “I’ve never”), and we both took a sleeping pill (helps with jetlag) and went to bed. The next morning, we were awoken by the sound of a large bell, as well dragged ourselves out of bed and down the freezing, wooden corridors to the main temple for the 6am Buddhist ceremony. There were about 5 other foreigners observing the ceremony (ironically, considering we barely saw any during the trip). We sat silently in the candle-lit sanctuary, walls lined with scroll boxes and elaborately decorated with gold, while the monk chanted prayers in Japanese. After the ceremony, we returned the room where we had eaten dinner, and were served another vegetarian, traditional Japanese meal. After breakfast, I took a nap while Claire enjoyed some matcha (green tea). We wandered around town and decided to get a day pass for the bus, which was very useful in visiting all the temples. The mountain was filled with Buddhist pilgrims, decked all in white, with walking sticks, Japanese two-toed “penguin shoes” and wearing straw “triangle” hats (sorry for the descriptions). We saw some pretty cool temples, including the main temple, buried deep a forest of gigantic pine trees and lined with half-a-million stone tombs, the mausoleum for the Tokugawa Samurai family, a cool pagoda which confused us a bit because it looked kind of Shinto, and the main temple for Shingon Buddhism, which included depictions of Kukai’s pilgrimage to China (ironically, places I have been and seen) and Japan’s largest rock garden (2349 m.sq.).
Onsens and EXCITING NEWS
We were originally going to go to the Pacific Ocean coastal, hot spring town of Shirahama after Koyasan, but it turned out to be a longer trip than expected (um, 4-6 hours by train vs. 2 by car), so we instead had dinner in Osaka and went to an onsen (hot spring baths/spa) in Kobe on the way home. The Kobe onsen we visited is part of a capsule hotel, so it worked out well because Claire could see what the capsules look like without submitting her (taller than average) self to sleeping in one.
When we finally arrived at my apartment, completely relaxed but tired, I discovered an email with some pretty big and exciting news from home that left me in an extremely giddy mood. Not sure if I can or should write details here right now, but it looks like I may be coming home twice this next year! Weddings! I am going to cry, I am so excited and happy… and not just because we had an utterly amazing trip!