Religious Experience

Well, last night was interesting to say the least. We travelled to Koya-san, a town high in the mountains of the same name. The area is considered sacred, and the town is essentially a collection of Shingon Esoteric Buddist temples. We were essentially there just to see Okuno-in, a MASSIVE Buddist graveyard featuring everything from small family graves, to ancient mausoleums. The whole effect at night was fantastic. The thing to do while in Koya-san though, is to spend the night at one of the many temples where you eat traditional vegeterian meals, sleep on futons in tatami rooms, and join in the prayer/meditation services. It would have been fairly interesting except that the whole experience came off feeling less sacred, and more tourist trap. Every building in town that wasn't a temple was a stored selling the usual junk you find in stores catering to tourists, and everything in town was insanely expensive. I would have been okay with all of that if not for the fact that our futons were thin, and did nothing to disguise the fact that we were sleeping on a very hard floor. Needless to say, I slept poorly, and awoke feeling out of sorts. This is, of course, reflecting itself in my review of the town in general. Oh well, had to do it. Of the whole experience I think the part that enjoyed the most was the slow train ride through the mountains to get into town. Stunning views, and a great reminder that there is incredible beauty to be found in rural Japan. There's definitly more to this country than huge crowds and neon lights.

Anyway, we've settled into our hotel in Kyoto and are trying to figure out our plans for the next couple days. We intended to hit Mt Fuji the day after tomorrow, but it's looking like a Tokyo departure might be the only way to do it without spending a couple days. We'll see...

Well, that's all for now. The computer I'm on is at the hotel, and free to use for guests, with no apparent time limit. This should mean an abundance of posts while I'm here. Also, I can switch this machine into 'English-mode' which not only makes typing easier, but it also allows me to read the menus on Blogspot. Maybe I'll be able to figure out how to post pics... :)