CHERRY BLOSSOM TIME IN KYOTO

After leaving Osaka, Steve and I travelled to Koya-san which is the home of Japanese Shingun Buddhism.  It’s regarded by Japanese Buddhists as a very holy place because the founder of Shingun Buddhism is buried there in a state of eternal meditation.  To reach Koya-san we travelled on a mountain train that wound its way up the mountains, which are wooded with streams and waterfalls, to the terminus and then we transferred to a cable car!  We stayed in ‘temple lodgings’ – a simple hotel run by Buddhist monks.  It was remarkably peaceful and relaxing after the hustle of Tokyo and Osaka.  We visited the various temples and shrines, as well as the massive cemetery where the founder is buried.  We also went for a walk through the woods along the path that women pilgrims used to have to take in the days before they were allowed to enter the town.

Then we came back to the real world and are now in Kyoto.  We met up with Megan and Antony for a guided walk through the Geisha district on Weds evening, and were lucky to see several ‘maiko’ on their way to work.  Yesterday the four of us had a guide for the day who took us to the Rock Garden Temple, the Golden Temple and the Heian Shrine with its meditation gardens – and finally to the food market where we saw all manner of food … turtles, sparrows ….  It was a fascinating, though exhausting, day.  We learned a lot from our guide who went out of her way to give us as much information as she could.

And the cherry blossom is coming out so Japan is becoming frenzied!!  We weren’t anticipating seeing the cherry blossom but it’s out early because of the mild winter, so this is a special treat for us.  It:s a very big deal for the Japanese.  There are cherry blossom festivals, and on Wednesday we came across a big party underneath a tree, where they were giving out free sake!  You can get pickled cherry blossom flowers, cherry blossom ice cream (which is quite delicious) and cherry blossom tea (which isn’t!).  Today we’ve been on the train and the hillsides are turning pink – it really looks stunning!