In Yatta We Trust

Kōya-san is a complex of buddhist temples located at the top of a mountain in south kansaï.

We slept in a temple with monks! They wake us up with a giant bell at 6 am for the morning buddhist ceremony. The ceremony is very mystic: monks singing with their deep guttural voices, smoke of encent, symbals... it puts you in a morning transe. But at 6 am, at the top of the mountain in a big empty temple, its 5°C in the room, its not easy to be a monk!

The day after we went to visit a big buddhist cemetary, Okunoin Cemetery, with nice tombstones, statues... in an old cedar forest, that was a very nice walk.
We then visited a couple of other temple, one had a classical japanese garden, Banryutei rock garden, with rocks and small white stones, the largest in Japan!

To get to Mount Koya, it takes 2 or 3 trains that only locals take and a scary cable car to finish climbing the mountain. On the way back we walked down the mountain 40 min with our warrior bags!

...and we nearly get killed by a giant snake!

More photos about Kōya-san here and here!