My alarm went off at 4am and I was surprisingly awake so I bounced out of bed and got my last few things together before I set off.
I was sensible this time because I had my big rucksack, so I got the subway which was about 3m from my hotel, first time I had used it. I managed to find the station because you had to walk out and back in another building. I had plenty of time when I’d got to my platform but no shops were open at 5:30am and I was starving.
The train took 100 minutes but was such a class journey. The train line was up into the mountains and when we got to the end, we then had to take a very steep cable car to Mount Koyasan. The world heritage ticket included my travel and also the bus into town so all was good.
1,200 years ago a Buddhist priest Kukai, who is now known as Kobo Daishi, founded a monastic centre on top of Koyasan for studies and practices of Esoteric Buddhism. Ever since, Koyasan has been a holy pilgrimage destination and is known for it’s mysterious atmosphere. This sacred place was put inscribed on the World Heritage List in 2004. Don’t tell me you don’t learn anything from reading these ramblings!
When we got the centre, imagine Brookside but temples, no chavs but monks, and instead of off licenses you had beautiful scenery and shops. I dropped my bag off at mine at 8:30 but I cannot check in until 3pm. Pretty cool knowing I am currently 900m above sea level though.
The next 7 hours I honestly made Annekka Rice look like a couch potato! First thing I did was head to Okunion which was the most famous landmark up here.
Okunoin is basically a giant, spooky graveyard but it’s amazing to look at. There are around 200,000 tombs there from common folk to military commanders. As well as the tombs there are cedar trees which are several hundred years old.
I was fascinated by the Okunoin, I must have taken about 500 photos of the tombs so I bet you’re all really buzzing to see them on Facebook!? As well as the graves on the site, I visited the mausoleum of Kobo Daishi. The belief is that this fella isn’t really dead, he’s in a deep meditation and will return one day. I was lucky enough to arrive when a prayer ceremony was going on, which was cool. Hearing all the monks humming was wicked and I realised I’m actually going to be sitting with them for a prayer ceremony tomorrow!
I visited a few other landmarks on the grounds but it’s worth me mentioning Sugatami No Ido (mirror well). It is believed if you do not see your reflection in the well, you are going to die within the next three years. Good news guys, I could see myself and I even took a photo to prove it!
There was another little theory, where in the middle of a shrine was a massive stone and the saying went that if the stone felt heavy to you lifting it then you are sinful, given it’s a bloody boulder I reckon we are all going to hell.
After Danjo Garan complex I headed to Daimon which is a ‘majestic gate’. Closeby was Otasuke Jizo who is meant to grant you one wish. Last time I wished for something at a Buddhist site he didn’t deliver what I asked but he did deliver an acceptable alternative (the FA Cup May 2014). So this time around I hope he would deliver the goods. There was a Japanese lady there so I had to wait and I really hope she isn’t a Chelsea or Manc or Buddha will have a dilemma on his hands!
I had Udon for lunch in this cool little restaurant run by a mental lady, she was off her tits! Anybody who did not speak Japanese was going outside and taking photos of the plastic food dishes (this is a popular Japanese art form) so they could get their orders in. When it arrived it was good though and watching her was excellent entertainment.
I had been walking around for hours and really fancied changing, especially now it was proper sunny and humid. They wouldn’t let me check in before 3pm though so I sat and waited for a while.
When I checked into the temple, they showed me around and explained the rules around gates closing at 9pm so all had to be in by then. They also explained where we could do calligraphy, use the Onsens and went through the plan of action for tomorrow’s ceremony.
I opted not to have dinner there tonight because it was pricey. The whole of Koyasan was nominated Michelin Green Star for its cuisine but given they are monks, it’s all veggie. I pez’d it and went to the supermarket instead and got some weird chicken stick in a hotdog bun with miso, it was suprisingly nice.
For the rest of the night I watched some stuff on Amazon and then the guys knocked and laid out the futon bed, moving the table aside.
In the morning (5am alarm) I got dressed and headed to the hall for the prayer ceremony. Most people in the Ryokan seemed to have turned up. We all kneeled, sat or squirmed as I did for an hour as the monks sat in the square prayer area with all sorts of extravagant statues and ornaments. They did the chanting and humming with ringing of bells and stuff for about 40 minutes. It was quite peaceful and relaxing to be honest, the Japanese amongst the gathering were going up to the incense and sprinkling some and praying. We had to rub incense in our hands before entering also.
Once the chanting and humming concluded, the monk sat and spoke for a while so I obviously did not understand a word. We then went for a walk around the outside of their prayer area which had tombs, prayers statues and photos of past monks I think.
I went back to my room and then breakfast was served on the floor. It was again vegetarian and I struggled to be honest. I could tell it was very nice but I just couldn’t eat some of the stuff because of the time of day. I had a massive bowl of rice (I did quite well on that), green tea (fail), potato porridge like stuff (passed), miso soup (passed), a weird chewy nut thing (failed), some seaweed (pass) and a massive bowl of tofu soup (25% complete). There was also a vegetable dumpling type thing which was nice but I couldn’t eat it because it was soaking in some sauce and felt weird again for breakfast (20% done). So overall a pretty unsuccessful breakfast to be honest but I did try.
So then it was back on the cable car down the mountain and on the train back to Osaka. I have booked one night in a dump in Osaka as I’m flying early to Miyakojima. This place is easily going to be the worst place I am staying on the trip and I also have a night here when return from Miyakojima before Hiroshima.
I had to change trains on the way back and when jumped off my train was opposite so hopped straight on. Only about half way through the journey did I realise I was on a ‘women boarding only’ carriage… whoops! Usually the trains have these signs outside the carriage, they probably did to be fair so I missed it. I stayed on it the whole way, nobody seemed that arsed to be fair. Maybe it was because my hair is like a buffon now and still got two and a bit weeks left before can get it chopped!
I got to my hotel and it is an absolute dump. It is worse than some of the caves me and Jenners stayed in Thailand. I booked this because it was a fiver and I knew I had to be up and out early morning for my flight. The room is about a metre wide and 6ft long with a futon up against the wall. There is zero chance of me using any of the facilities, i’ll be holding out to my lovely hotel in Miyakojima. The corridors are like a British subway and the reception reminds me of one of those dodgy pawn shops you see on the movies.
I dumped my bag down (which takes most of the room) and headed out. Naturally, I’ve taken my small backpack with everything in it. I grabbed some lunch in Dotonbori and pottered about again. I went to the mega don quijote store and saw some funny things. Also, they sell every flavour of kitkat you can ever imagine, none of which make it to the UK. Opposite was a suit shop which had a sale on, I bought two ties so no idea how I am going to keep them in decent shape until I get back but I wasn’t thinking of that when heading for the till.
I’ve got no plans for tonight really, I just hope my trip to the airport is stress free and I can figure out how to check in etc at Kansai airport.
On the way back I was scouting through some booklet. I had previously wanted to see the Tigers at baseball but schedule didn’t match. I spotted the Buffaloes were playing nearby in the Kyocera Dome so I headed off there.
I found cider woooo! It was rank (some Heineken effort) but still, beggars can’t be choosers. I queued up for a ticket and then of course I had to buy a jersey to continue the tradition.
The game was pretty cool. They were playing the Hawks and they brought loads of away support. The Buffaloes won 2-1 after being one down then smashing two home runs, one after each other.
Japanese craziness and sport is just a great mix. I was chuffed I went as sport was really missing from my plan so happy to tick it off. The cheerleaders are like a girlband too, they were singing live before the game and it was very Japanese. I love how they’re Japanese lyrics but then they’ll toss in a nonsensical English line here and there, ‘FLY so High Buffaloes, Be all right! Goes Well’. They also had set sort of timeslots where home team and away team sang their song and let off a load of balloons which looked great although I do not wish to see it in the Prem of course!
I got back to my hotel pretty late which is good because it’s a complete rot hole. I don’t think I can do this again, will be cancelling the one on way back. Loads of backpackers gathered in the reception chatting but they’re all pezzing it, I need to never see this hotel again!
Bring on Miyakojima! Beeeeeeeach
