Feb. 19

It was good that we slept well last night as today is going to be full of activity. We spent some time last night researching options to get to Koyasan by train and then the Cable car. If it all works as we planned we would take a regular train to Namba, Then transfer to a limited express train to Gokurakubashi. At this station we would board the cable car to Koyasan where a bus would meet us and take us to the down town section of Koyasan. With plan in hand we head to the train station near the hotel. We hadn’t checked out yet, but were mostly packed up. The same man that we had talked to yesterday was in the ticket booth. We had translated on the Google app what we wanted to do. We told him that we would like to take a train that left after 8. He then replied can you be ready by 7;10. The train leaves in 10 minutes. We weren’t ready for that train and then he said how about 7:40. We gave it a quick thought, then said yes and bought the tickets. It was a run back to the room, check out and return to the train station. By the time we got back to the station we had 5 minutes to spare. We quickly learn that trains are on time in Japan, and you better be as well.

There was plenty of room when we first got on. That was soon to change and by the time we got to Namba, it was full with commuters and school age children.

We got off the train and showed an employee our ticket. He pointed to a nearby train. We had reserved seats and needed to find the right car, I guess we were moving too slow as we turned around and saw him running towards us and rapidly pointing to our car. That was good because we barely got on when the train started moving. This train was almost empty.

This was a limited express train so no transfers until we get to where we board the cable car.

This was the third train we have been on and the protocols for train travel that we read about were true. There was no loud talking, no eating and no drinking.

It was fascinating as we watched the landscape change as we headed up the mountain. There were a lot of garden plots as well as orchards along the tracks. Some of the orchards had the beginnings of blossoms. The higher we went the steeper were the sides of the valley . The train just chugged along and one could feel the strain of the engines. In about 2 hours we reached the last train station called Gokurakubashi. Here we would transfer to the cable car and begin our last assent to Koyasan.

At this station there was a sign telling about the area that we were soon to enter.

We slowly chugged up the tracks, pausing only when another cable car was coming down the mountain.

The cable car still had some room, but later cable cars were full.

At the top, a bus was waiting to take us to town. We are so impressed with the coordination of the modes of transportation.

Once we arrived to town, we headed to the temple where we had a reservation for the night.

We walked thru the gate and on to the porch where inside shoes were at the entrance. Outside shoes are never worn inside,

We were welcomed by a monk and when we asked if we could leave our backpacks at the desk till we could get a room. He said your room is ready and you can leave your backpacks there.

The room was simple with a table in the middle where we would be served dinner. We were given a tour of where the bathroom and baths were located and when to be back for supper. We were also told about the proper etiquette of a temple. We are already feeling a sense of peace here.

We will be spending 2 nights in Koyasan, one night here and another night in a guest house. We hope that will be enough time to appreciate this sacred town.

The visitor center was close by and could sell us a book of tickets for admission to some of the temples.
We could also get a tape recorder with tapes to give us an audio tour of the town. Our first temple was going to be Kongobuji. This is the head temple of Shingon Buddhism. The gate to the temple gave us a feeling of being ancient.

The original temple was built in 1593. Unfortunately many of the wooden structures have burned due to fires in the area.

Using our audio guide we walked thru the many room of the temple. Out of respect photos are not allowed to be taken of the rooms, but one can take photos of the rock gardens.

This is the largest rock garden in Japan. The design is a pair of dragons emerging from a sea of clouds. The garden is made up of 140 pieces of granite taken from the island of Shikoku and the white sand is from Kyoto.

Each room had a story and beautiful paintings on the walls.

Our next stop was the Danjo Garan Complex It consists of over 20 temples including a pagoda which is about 159 feet tall.

Another structure that is found here is the building that holds the large bell. It is rung several times a day, but we were never in the area to hear it.

The weather had turned rainy and it was getting close to 5. It was time to call it a day and head back to our temple lodging for the night and have dinner.

On the table in the middle of the room was the menu for tonight. All foods are vegetarian.

The food tasted great. The presentation showed lots of care.

When we were finished eating, two monks came into our room. They cleared our dishes and set up futons on the tatami mats.