Koyasan

This weekend, I headed up to Koyasan with my friend Aiko. Koyasan is a sacred mountain in Wakayama, about 2 ½ hours away by train. I went up there once before in autumn with my dad and Georgie. I wanted to go up once more before I left. There are many temples and world heritage sites there.
We decided to stay overnight at a temple, where you can get special meals prepared by the monks and attend a service in the morning.
Aiko and I arrived about 1pm, and went to the tourism office where they booked us for that night at a nearby temple called Tentokuin. We left our bags at the temple and explored. The main area we went to is called Okunoin. There is a temple surrounded by a tranquil cedar forest, and a half million tombs. It is a beautiful and very peaceful place.
The town closes down at about 5pm, so we headed back to the temple. A monk showed us to our room and explained the boy/girl rotation for the bath. Our room was a traditional Japanese style, which I really love. It was very simple and when we opened the windows, we discovered a beautiful view of a pond and garden outside! It was such a peaceful and serene place. We had an amazing vegetarian dinner with a beautiful view from our room. After dinner, we took a Japanese style bath that was so relaxing! When we returned, the monks had made our beds up for us, and we went right to sleep, at 9:00!
After a good night’s sleep, we woke up at 6am and got ready for the morning prayer service at 6:30. I sat on my knees for as long as I could, but I had to shift a bit in the middle. It was a really interesting service. The two monks chanted in perfect harmony with each other and it was very beautiful. The service would have been even more tranquil had a giant bee not been present right behind me. I heard it, and turned around and saw a bee about three inches long trying to get out the door behind me. It was clearly agitated, and I was clearly uncomfortable. I turned to the monk sitting at the back of the room and he gestured that there was nothing to worry about. About 5 min later, I heard him jump behind me, as the giant bee had starting buzzing by him. Now he was clearly alarmed, and tried to open the sliding door, but was afraid to get too close. Finally, the bee settled down, and we could all enjoy the service again.
At about 7:30, the monks brought us our breakfast. Another tasty meal comprised of rice, tofu, vegetables, miso, and tea. I forgot to take a picture of that though! I guess we were too hungry.
After our meal, we went back into town and did some shopping. I got some omiyage for the teachers and my adult students. And of course snacks for me. We passed a shop that was making fresh yaki mochi (grilled rice cakes filled with sweet beans). It was warm and fresh, and SO delicious! It was as soft as a toasted marshmallow.
I also got a juzu (prayer beads) for myself.
Koyasan is definitely one of my favorite spots in Japan. I’m happy I made it back there one more time before leaving!