Koya san

Pictures-top Kongobuji Temple, second from top Mausoleum of the Tokugawas.


Yesterday at 1 o'clock we set off for Mount Koya in Wakayama prefecture, about 2 hours south of Osaka. We got on the train with only seconds to spare. It was lucky because that train only comes once an hour. You take the train to the last stop then take a weird tram/cable car(second from bottom) that goes up the mountain at an incredibly steep angle.
We got to the top then took a bus to the restaurant area. We were fairly hungry, having not eaten all day. In fact I had a headache and was about to collapse. After a nice curry udon we had a look at the mausoleum of the Tokugawas (Japanese Shoguns about 400 years ago).
We tried to make it inside the main building of Koya san-Kongobuji Temple, it's the headquarters of the Buddhist sect who settled the mountain, it's also the place where Toyotomi Hidetsugi was ordered to commit suicide, but it was closed.
So we walked through a huge graveyard (bottom) Many famous people had tombstones here as well as many big companies such as Panasonic and Yakult as well as people who have died in different occupations. There was also a giant rocket, though I'm not sure why. The area had a very strange atmosphere, and as we walked back toward the station, along the main road we were getting a bit creeped out. Then a car came past and slowed to a stop. Luckily the lady was just offering us a lift, or perhaps she was planning on eating us but changed her mind, either way we got back to Osaka in one piece at 10 o'clock.