Ohayou gozaimasu :) I'm drawing a bit of a blank here... I think I left my enthusiasm for blog writing in Hiroshima...

On the earliest morning yet I dragged myself out of bed and we set out to Koya-san, one of, if not the most important Buddhist centre in Japan, set amidst mountains at about three thousand feet. Unfortunately because of this it wasn't all Shinkansen like I had become accustomed to; we transferred at Osaka and then travelled south by local trains and funicular.

It was BLISTERING hot, even at such a height it was definitely the warmest day we've had so far. We arrived at a monastery run by Buddhist monks and were shown to our Ryokan-like accommodation; oh how I missed eating/sleeping on the floor and cold water! All of us walked out into the heat and visited Koya-san's main temples, one of which was Kongobu-ji, trying not to sound too much like a guidebook it's really pretty with its enormous buildings encompassing painted sliding doors and rock gardens.

We then walked through the cemetery Oku-no-in, considered one of the most sacred places in Japan and home to over two hundred thousand tombs, I believe you can pay to be buried here but it costs shed loads of money. After having a rest and settling down to a strictly vegetarian dinner which I tried my utmost to eat, some of us headed out into the night to revisit the graveyard in darkness. Now, I read this is one of the most utterly peaceful places on earth, and am afraid what I am about to write may be found as disrespectful, but I can only sum up our second walk through the burial ground in these words: spooky and funny. Deputy tour leader Charlie did a very convincing "what... what the **** is that!!!" and everyone was tripping over badly lit steps, all the while discussing filming an amateur blair witch project remake. We walked farther than what we did in the daytime and finally reached the temple at the end of the path where two monks were praying, we followed (not stalkingly) them back through the graveyard and Charlie said he saw one of them trip over a step.

After reading a bit of 'The Teaching of Buddha' and a very sporadic night's sleep I rose at 6am to watch the monks doing their morning prayers, it was about a half an hour long chant which, I'm told, is in sanskrit. One by one we sprinkled incense onto the fire.

Following a very - please forgive me - unappetizing breakfast we packed our bags. Staying here has been a surreal experience, and I may never again see such a different way of life this close up, but as I sat down on the train I was not sad to leave Koya-san, only excited to see Osaka!

Ta for now,

Lee-san