1000yen ($7) can make you a billionaire

and for larger sums, you can be buried for 30,000Y( $210) exorcised for 10,000Y ($70), or you can buy a beer for $800Y ($6). All are available at the monastery sales desk( see their list and translation in the photos). All guaranteed except the billionaire one. That was Oscar's wish for the goma ceremony. That ceremony is the most powerful budhist prayer. Let's see if his wish comes true soon so that I can retire and have someone carry my rucksack.

All this played out in the monastery Shojo-in, where we stayed in Koyasan. The rooms, classified as "pilgrim's lodging," were basic but comfortable. The toilets were shared but spotless, and the onsen bath was simply wonderful. Onsen is a Japanese hot tub.

There were some rougher parts of the stay. For food, you have to sit cross-legged or kneeling on the floor. Uncomfortable!, and the day starts at 06:30 with a half hour long prayer ceremony. The goma prayers and wishes are at 1230. The nice staff tell us it will last about 30-40 minutes. She was only 90 minutes wrong, but it wasn't her fault because a group of people bought about 2,000 prayer sticks (2,000,000Y, $15,000), and the chief monk threw them into the fire one by one. See video. The poor monks and pilgrims close to the fire were dripping in sweat long before the ceremony ended.

Both the morning ceremony and the lunchtime goma were super interesting. The style of the rooms is tasteful, and the monks exude calmness, but the goma with its repetitive chants and drumming reminded me of other situations whose aim is to create a trance or a frenzy.

My prayer, though I didn’t write it down on a stick, is nowadays always the same, I want to live long enough to see my kids grow up. The last year has put behind me most of my worries about that, but now I have some vague hope that next time we travel, someone else will carry my rucksack.Read more