Kansai

---

We took a trip to Koyasan which is the centre of Shingon Buddhism. It's a cute little town on top of the wooded mountain and you get a cablecar up the last part of the journey. Now over one hundred temples stand in the small town and many of these offer temple lodging. We stayed at Ekoin temple and partook in the evening meditation and the early morning prayers. Neither of which was particularly spiritual. Had a different idea of what Koyasan would be. But again the temples are privately owned and the whole set up just seems like one big touristic wheel of commerce. The evening meal served at the temple lodgings is shojin ryori, the vegetarian cuisine of monks and involves alot of tofu. It's mediocre and chatting to one guy working at the temple we were informed that many of the young monks can be spotted down the local pub, sinking beers and enjoying steak. So really the visit was a bit of a farce and I personally don't think that it is worth the trek!

Before heading back to the hustle and bustle of Tokyo we whizzed by Shirahama which is a resort town on the south coast of the Kansai prefecture. Its beaches are white sand, imported from Australia apparently. Its renowned for its buzzing beach scene during the summer season and also known for its hot springs. When we went there the beaches were deserted so we spent our time 'pruning' our skin and relaxing!

---