Koyasan is just about 1.5 hours from here by train (yes, I really do miss my car!) and I decided to spend my Sunday getting to and hiking in Koyasan, and to get a first impression of the town, as I plan to go back with Brian in a few weeks.
Hiking was great! I opted to do the Nyonin (女人） 'Women's Pilgrimage' course, from Nyonin bus stop to Oku-no-In mae. The hike was all off-road, and hilly, and, after the first kilometre, was completely people-free. I was totally alone on the trail, and it was a great opportunity to commune with myself, to ruminate over things past, things future and things now. And, being alone, with nature, a great reminder that the past is the future is now. So ...I remembered to appreciate the moment, to savour the scenery, and just be where I was.
After my hike, when I reached the 'goal' of Oku-no-In, I was delighted to see that it was a fantastic, sprawling cemetary, surrounding a beautiful temple. On this day, I was already tired from hours in the mountains, and had not gone there to adore the temples - that was for a later date. So I enjoyed a quiet walk around Oku-no-In, before catching a bus toward the Visitor's Center.
The Visitor's Center was my second purpose - to get more, clear information on the town and on shukubo - spending the night at one of the temples. I struck gold here - I got the business card of the friendly gentleman working the English help desk, who told me to call him when I wanted to make a reservation at a temple!
His name is Iizuka Shozo, tel 073-478-2724; cell 090-3704-1896
I plan to call him when Brian and I go to Koyasan together -which will be for temple visits and shukubo!
[caption id="attachment_236" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Homes tucked into the mountains"]
[/caption][caption id="attachment_236" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="View along the Nyonin trail"]
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