We arrived in Koyasan, a very peaceful place in Japan. As with our travels, the journey included trains, trains, trains, trains, cable car and bus. We studied in advance, but you never know how it will go - our own Great American Race. It took about three hours, in part due to us getting on a local (not rapid) train. We saw a train destined for Osaka that included a car that described "women only." We asked no questions and just entered as we watched a couple rapid trains whip by... Namaste.
To get up to Koyasan, you get on a cable car that crawls up a hill and stops 3,000 feet above sea level. We included a few photos of that experience. The five minute ride was invigorating, followed by a sardine packed bus that we squeezed ourselves, along with our luggage onto. When we got off, we did a little dance and then took a deep breath.
We arrived at the Temple and headed out to lunch in anticipation of the vegetarian dinner and breakfast. We found a lunch place nearby where they spoke no English, but were willing to steer us outside to the front window so we could point at plastic food to order. It might be a good idea to have drink examples as well, because when we ordered a beer - our waitress asked large, we nodded and what arrived were two steins that would have made the Germans proud. We walked through the town and a path that led to the Okunoin cemetery. It included "more than 100,000 monuments commemorating the giants of Japanese history," including references to a few corporations.
We came back for our meditation at 4:30pm. It was almost an hour and we sat at the back where our fidgeting was less noticed. Then when we got back, Jennie and Wendy arrived and we went to our vegetarian dinner, which included three colorful object in our clear broth. I calling it our Easter eggs.
We leave in the morning to go back to Kyoto. Talk soon...