Our trip to Koyasan

Alright, well these pictures are going to be slightly out of order because I’m still learning this system, but I think it’s still workable.

During out trip to Tokyo we took a few day stop-over in a place called Koyasan, or Mt. Koya.  This is located just southeast of Osaka and is in the fabled mountains of Japan.  I can’t quite explain to you the morning view as the mist was rising into the sun, but needless to say it was beautiful.

Here you are able to see the exterior of the Ryokan we were staying at, a traditional Japanese hotel.  Typically, these will have tatami mat rooms, low ceilings, and friendly staff.  If you’re lucky (and we were), they also include an Onsen, Japanese Hot Springs, on the premises.

Here you can see the view from our room.  Very lovely indeed!  After a week in the hustle and bustle of Tokyo, this was an excellent retreat away from the busy city life.

The place we stayed at had a full menu for both breakfast and dinner.  Here you can see the dinner spread for their Tempura selection, a Japanese fried dish that is surprisingly light and not oily at all.  Popular selections are prawns or shrimp and various vegetables.  Also included is miso soup, a small salad, and green tea.

One of the things encouraged at the establishment is the wear of traditional Japanese garb.  Here is Erika sporting her seasonal Yukata, a style of less-formal Kimono worn at home and outside for various festivals. Instead of silk, these were made of cotton (hence their status as less-formal) and were often not as colorful.  What they were, however, was extremely comfortable.

Here’s a closeup of one of the breakfasts.  As you can see, Japanese eat a lot of fish! Typically for breakfast would be a single piece of dried fish, soup, and a vegetable, in this case fresh seaweed, which is surprisingly delicious.  Also included (in the black dish in the center) was an egg dish, which was usually unsweeted, unlike the egg served with dinner (which is typically as a desert.  Imagine that!).  They offered various times to come and deliver breakfast, but the latest time was 0830, still perhaps too early for one of our tastes…

Here you can see the “old-timey” train that took us out to Koyasan.

All of Japan is connected by rail, though some of the trains are more modern than others.  Our where we were in this photo, the train may only stop by every 30 or 40 minutes, drastically different from the 2-3 minute service found in the major cities.  The consummate professionals, each train will be manned by a conductor who is more than happy to answer any question you may have – provided you speak Japanese that is 😀

Alright, so a little out of order, but this is a piece of a tree that was ridiculously old.   I don’t quite remember, but thinking 600+ years.

This is a section of the largest Zen rock garden in the world.  The rest of it forms a dragon who is ascending through the clouds.  It was visited by the Emperor some 100 years ago and there are still signs up welcoming his arrival.

This garden is supposed to represent the various types of larger vegetation popular in the area.  As you can see, this is deliberately planted and maintained.  It was off in the opposite side of the lawn that we were permitted to stand on, so I’m assuming this wasn’t for enjoying up close, merely admiring from afar.  The subtle triangle formation can be appreciated given the various types of plants.

This is a natural escape for smoke in the kitchen of this old monastery.   It was slightly smokey in the room because the stove is still used to make meals!  This was one of the places that offered overnight accommodations, though we were only here for the day.  Perhaps next time.

This is just a quick shot I got of monks on an afternoon stroll through the city center.

These were old lanterns that, at one time I am sure, once held oil or wax lights.  These days they’ve been “upgraded” with an incandescent bulb.

Here’s the exterior of another one of the temples.  The large majority of these were closed to the public except on special days of the year, which makes sense seeing as how some of them were multiple hundreds of years old.

Here is a close-up of the lantern detail.

Hereis a shot of one of the more famous buildings there, the Konpon Daito.  This building has been standing in some form since the year 955.  It is a 45 meter tall pagoda centered in Garan, the most important temple in the city.

Detail on a building with a “natural” look roof.  This is another hall on the same grounds as the previous pagoda.

Here is a bridge overlooking a small lake.  You can see the original iron caps that date back to the 10th century.

Another shot of the pagoda in the afternoon sun.

Here is our train that made the steep climb up the mountain so we didn’t have to. It was carefully timed so that they would cross at this particular spot.  Not depicted is a stone staircase worn into the side of the mountain that served as the original trail to the top.  Quite the pilgrimage!

Finally, this is the view from our room.  We had a nice private garden complete with a reflecting pond and some beautiful cedar trees.  There were wooden shoes, called Geta, that are the traditional style.  Walking around on them was quite precarious, especially on that bridge.

All told, Koyasan is a wonderful little escape from the busy city of Osaka and holds quite a few treasures to be explored. We had a short time to spend there but certainly tried to make the most of it.  Hope you enjoyed reading!