Before we left Kawayu Onsen this morning Manuel decided to go for a walk in the village. He actually saw a digger working on the rotemburo (outdoor bath) of one of the hotels. So that's how they do it!
I kind of had a plan for today but it involved a fair amount of hours and driving. It was doable but we we were given a deadline: 16h00. Will and Jorge were cycling with Chris this weekend. He's Will's friend and lives in Tokyo. He teamed up with us in Wakayama on Friday night. Today was Sunday and he had a train ticket booked for 16h30 to take him back home. Me and Manuel were driving the bags as usual so we had Chris's bag to deliver at 16h.
I wasn't initially happy with that but we ended up playing the day by ear and it worked really well.
First stop of the day was Kumano Hongu Taisha.
The Kumano Sacred Shinto shrines (Kumano Sanzan) and the walking trails the pilgrims have used for 1000 years to get to the shrines (Kumano Kodo) are UNESCO World Heritage Sites. There are 3 shrines: Hongu Taisha, Nachi Taisha and Hayatama Taisha. They are quite far apart and we only had time to see one.
The shrines are so old that they are on the realm of mythology. The Shinto sun goddess's great grandson, Jimmu, came to Kumano to unify the country as Japan's first Emperor. Kumano is also called 'The Land of the Dead', in reference to the belief that Shinto spirits and family ancestors dwell here after they die. Basically, very sacred!
Kumano Hongu Taisha enshrines the deities of all 3 Kumano shrines and the sun goddess Amaterasu and serves as the head shrine of over 3000 Kumano shrines across Japan. It is one of the oldest shrines in Japan.
Oyu no Hara:
The location of the original shrine, which was destroyed by floods in 1889.
In front of Oyu no Hara stands the biggest torii in the world at 33m high. A torii gate is the boundary between holy ground and the secular world. Passing through the torii gates signifies that you have stepped into the domain of the deity.
The location of the original shrine, which was destroyed by floods in 1889.
In front of Oyu no Hara stands the biggest torii in the world at 33m high. A torii gate is the boundary between holy ground and the secular world. Passing through the torii gates signifies that you have stepped into the domain of the deity.
Water ablution pavilion (Chozuya or Temizuya) is used by worshippers for washing their left hand, right hand, mouth and finally the handle of the water ladle to purify themselves before approaching the shrine.
The area where the big shrine used to be now has a small shrine.
Pictures of where the old shrine was before the flood. It used to sit on an island in the middle of what I assume are branches of the nearby Otonashi river. Not a very good idea!
Rice paddies, mountains and houses. THE most common view so far on this trip!
Kumano Hongu Taisha:
The shrine was rebuilt far from the river, 1km away from the original site.
The current torii is a lot smaller.
Stairs leading to the shrine in the shade of cryptomeria trees:
Not sure what this is. A wall of wishes?
The shrine's shop, the most popular spot!
No shoes in buildings of course. Monks shoes are a bit different, they remind me of the shoes of an anime character, I just can't remember which.
These shoes were outside one of the buildings of the shrine that was being used for a private ceremony with plenty of people. I have no idea what kind of ceremony it was but it included a monk, drums and bells.
In Japan there are always walking sticks stands regardless whether you are in a shrine or at an ATM:
Hongu Taisha shrine. Closed doors. One doesn't know what's inside, one can't see what's inside.
There are always plenty of ways of making wishes/prayers in a shrine.
There are always wishes for peace, even if it's for the other side of the world.
My wish wasn't very original: Happiness & Love. The little wooden plaque cost ¥300 (£2, €2.4, $2.6) and if I understand correctly from the picture above it, it will be burned in a ritual.
An unexpected site in a shrine: a post box! The crow (yatagarasu) on the top, whose 3 feet symbolise the heavens, the earth and humanity, is the emblem of the shrine.
The symbol of the Japanese Imperial Family is a 16 petals chrysanthemum. As the first emperor of japan was descendant from the sun goddess Amaterasu, all shrines related to Amaterasu have the imperial symbol.
We drove away heading to Koyasan, our destination. Mountain roads again, criss-crossing the mountain but not as narrow as in the Iya Valley.
We stopped at a small mountain village because we were very thirsty and there were no shops open. However, as expected, there was a drinks vending machine. It was a hot day today and some cold water was very welcome.
At one point we were following the pretty valley of a river.
The area where the big shrine used to be now has a small shrine.
Pictures of where the old shrine was before the flood. It used to sit on an island in the middle of what I assume are branches of the nearby Otonashi river. Not a very good idea!
Rice paddies, mountains and houses. THE most common view so far on this trip!
Kumano Hongu Taisha:
The shrine was rebuilt far from the river, 1km away from the original site.
The current torii is a lot smaller.
Stairs leading to the shrine in the shade of cryptomeria trees:
Not sure what this is. A wall of wishes?
The shrine's shop, the most popular spot!
(Really? Shall we fan away Trump and terrorists?)
No shoes in buildings of course. Monks shoes are a bit different, they remind me of the shoes of an anime character, I just can't remember which.
These shoes were outside one of the buildings of the shrine that was being used for a private ceremony with plenty of people. I have no idea what kind of ceremony it was but it included a monk, drums and bells.
In Japan there are always walking sticks stands regardless whether you are in a shrine or at an ATM:
Hongu Taisha shrine. Closed doors. One doesn't know what's inside, one can't see what's inside.
There are always plenty of ways of making wishes/prayers in a shrine.
There are always wishes for peace, even if it's for the other side of the world.
My wish wasn't very original: Happiness & Love. The little wooden plaque cost ¥300 (£2, €2.4, $2.6) and if I understand correctly from the picture above it, it will be burned in a ritual.
An unexpected site in a shrine: a post box! The crow (yatagarasu) on the top, whose 3 feet symbolise the heavens, the earth and humanity, is the emblem of the shrine.
The symbol of the Japanese Imperial Family is a 16 petals chrysanthemum. As the first emperor of japan was descendant from the sun goddess Amaterasu, all shrines related to Amaterasu have the imperial symbol.
We drove away heading to Koyasan, our destination. Mountain roads again, criss-crossing the mountain but not as narrow as in the Iya Valley.
We stopped at a small mountain village because we were very thirsty and there were no shops open. However, as expected, there was a drinks vending machine. It was a hot day today and some cold water was very welcome.
(Japan is not a country fit for disabled people.)
Sounded like another scary experience. What can I say? I don't learn! Manuel was excited!
We initially thought we had to pay as there was a man that looked like a bridge keeper at the entry but he was actually just counting the people crossing the bridge. Free? Amazing!
This time I couldn't reach the sides of the bridge as the wooden boards you walk on were in the middle of the bridge. There was an empty space on each side of them and for me to reach the side rail I would loose balance. I resorted to holding Manuel's backpack very tightly!
There was an initial giggle, then I knelt down on the bridge laughing my stress off. At the entrance of the bridge there is a restaurant with views to the valley and bridge. I am pretty sure everyone was laughing at me!
This time I did not scream as much. One foot at a time, plenty of nervous laughter, only with the occasional little cream when the bridge swayed a bit more. Oh, yes, the bridge is not very stable, it sways sideways with every step, the more people on the bridge the more it sways!
Closer to the end, about 5m or so, I left Manuel and ran out of the bridge. I was scared! I did not want to return to the bridge. I tried to convince Manuel to go around the road to the other side. He looked at the map that showed how long that would take us and immediately said 'No way!'.
Ok then, we returned. I felt really silly when I realised the majority of people weren't actually scared. There were women on high heals, girls texting, parents holding babies, small little children running and very old ladies looking at me in a disapproving way. By the time we got half way through the return route we stopped for pictures. I was still not completely at ease, but I was feeling better.
We were the only Westerners on the bridge. I don't think this bridge comes in any tourist guide...
We had lunch at a small restaurant near the bridge. It had an old style heater which can be used to heat water in kettles. As it was very hot it was off, but it looked interesting anyway.
Getting closer to Koyasan we started going up and roads started getting narrower. The boys were already in Koyasan and Manuel was driving very slowly, I reassured them that we would be arriving before 16h.
The advantage of going slowly is that Manuel managed to spot a deer. The only deer we saw in Japan since going to Nara 2 years ago.
Petrol again was becoming a problem. We were reaching reserve and all petrol stations today were closed. It seems that in rural Japan petrol stations do not open on Sunday. We were expecting Koyasan to be a small little village with lots of monks and little else and we were worried we might not be able to fill in the tank there. We spotted a petrol station when GPS said we were 7km from Koyasan, we kept it in mind so we could return tomorrow.
When we finally arrived to Koyasan we realised it was not a small village. It was an extremely busy tourist destination. We saw more Western tourists on the first 5min in Koyasan than we saw so far in this trip!
Koyasan (Mount Koya) is the centre of Shingon Budhism, an important Budhist sect that was introduced to Japan in 805 by Kobo Daishi, one of Japan's most important religious figures. Koyasan is where Kobo Daishi's mausoleum is and also where the Shikoku 88 Temples Pilgrimage starts (pilgrims take the same ferry across to Shikoku that brought us to the Kii Peninsula). Koyasan is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
It may have started as a secluded temple town more than 1000 years ago but since then more than 100 temples have sprung up. It has the largest grouping of monasteries in Japan and stands at a plateau 800m high surrounded by 8 densely forested mountains. In the symbolism of Shingon Budhism the 8 mountains represent the 8 petals of the lotus blossom on which the Budha sits.
Apart from being a religious centre it is also a tourist attraction, attracting both Western and Asian tourists alike. Many pilgrims in white clothes can also be seen walking the streets.
Koyasan is the best place to experience an overnight stay at a temple lodging (shukubo), one sleeps at the temple, eats vegetarian monk's cuisine (shojin ryori) and can attend morning prayers. It sounded like a good experience so we booked 2 nights as Will and Jorge were having another rest day from their bikes tomorrow.
Fukuchiin was our temple for the next 2 days. It's a beautiful old building with a manicured garden.
On arrival I wanted to do the check-in whilst the boys were coming to meet us at the temple but the lady attending at Reception was a bit stressed. She did not want to do check-in until she had everyone's passport, than she wanted us to have a guided tour of the temple and confused 2 other guests with Will and Jorge. Her English wasn't good and she was a little too stressed for my liking.
We managed to do the check-in and got a small tour of the main rooms of the temple (exquisite!) and the basic rules:
- Breakfast and dinner are in the room at set times,
- Rooms do not have locks, any valuables are to be left in a safe in the room (not sure how I feel about this when there are so many Western people in the temples!),
- We cannot get in the gardens as they are the typical Japanese rock gardens so nothing can be disturbed,
- Photography is allowed,
- We can attend the morning prayers at 6am if we want,
- Onsens can be used all night (Uau!) and are closed just for a few hours during the day,
- Temple gate is closed at 9pm and we are locked in (I was not expecting that!).
Our room is spacious enough. Manuel was a bit disappointed after coming from that enormous appartment in Kawayu Onsen but what we have at the temple is the standard Japanese room.
We asked twice if we could keep the boy's bikes inside of the temple gate for security and both times we got a very harsh 'No!'. It's not like there wasn't space in an out-of-sight corner of the garden... Not very accommodating these temple people!
The check-in process felt very mechanical, there is a lot of business going on! There were several groups of guests, both Western and Asian, and the reception staff wasn't being particularly friendly, it seemed like they just wanted to get it over and done with. Not impressed so far!
Some photos of the beautiful interiors:
Pictures of the indoor garden:
We asked for dinner at 19h30 and headed for the onsen.
The onsen has internal baths and a small rotemburo (outdoor bath) in a very small garden. I shared the rotemburo with 2 Japanese ladies, one of them tried to speak Japanese with me and, as usual, I had to say 'Wakarimasen' (I don't understand) and we left it there.
The rotemburo has 2 massaging jets, a bit like a jacuzzi. This is quite unusual and unexpected in Japan. Of course I tried it!
If I sit in the tub the jet hits my back and makes me cough. I tried this several times and I coughed every time. Very weird!
Don't you love the way jacuzzi makes your fat wobble like a jelly? I find it very amusing!
Shojin ryori cuisine, monks food, it is as usual very well presented. It is displayed in several small little tables and many different little pots and plates. I love the way Japanese have so much varied porcelain.
Food was alright, not great. We've had better! I did not like the sauce of the hot pot and gave mine to Jorge.
9pm, we are locked in until tomorrow morning. Good night.
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