Koyosan

One of Anna's big wants was a temple stay while we were in Japan. Kyosan, located about three hours by train up in the mountains from Osaka, has huge religious significance. We booked an overnight stay in one of the over a hundred temples located in town. We stayed at the Komyo-in temple.
We arrived early, so we dropped our bags off and walked to the largest cemetery in Japan. Large companies buy plots here to honor their employee's, and bring prosperity to their business.
When we went back to check-in, we were greeted with a large cup of matcha tea, and then shown to our room. Only the rooms are heated. The hallways are not and it's a shared bath. Needless to say, you only went to the bathroom when you absolutely couldn't hold it any longer.
They served us a delicious vegan meal for dinner. Afterwards we went out and walked the cemetery again at night.
It started snowing.
In the morning, we woke up to a shallow blanket of snow's covering the grounds. It made the stay that much more magical.
In the morning, the monks perform a Goma (fire burning ceremony). We all had the opportunity to write our wishes on a stick, and the monk prays over our wishes as he throws them into the fire.
After we checked out, we again left our bags and walked around the snow covered town seeing some of the other sites temples and shrines. To reach the town by train requires a venicular ride from the train station up the mountain to the town where you can catch a bus. So we again caught the bus to the cable car to the train and went back to Osaka.Read more