Spiritual Journeys

Have had a wonderful, if tiring two days. Yesterday Takako and I met up with another teacher that I used to work with and the three of us went hiking together. We hiked to the summit of Mt.Kongo (1125m), which is the highest peak in Osaka then walked for 12km along the ridge which marks the southern border of Osaka. It was a very long day, but well worth it. Brought back a lot of memories as I used to go hiking a lot when I lived in Japan.

From the end of the trail Takako and I caught a train further south into Wakayama prefecture to a place called Koya-san, a temple complex founded by Kobo Daishi more than 1200 years ago. I've been there 3 or 4 times before, but wanted to go again. We stayed at one of the temples and partook of the delicious temple food - all vegetarian - which is served at the temples. Also had a long soak in the bath, which was just what we both needed after our long walk. Japanese baths are wonderful - I just wish I had more time here so I could visit some of the hot springs.

Today we walked around Koya-san and through the cemetary to Kobo Daishi's mausoleum. The cemetary is amazing - thousands and thousands of graves amongst these hundreds of years-old cedars. Walking amongst such old trees I could feel the peace and spiritual nature of the place.

After lunch we caught a train back to Osaka and because it's Takako's birthday tomorrow (she's sweet 16!) I stopped off to find something for her (as always I left it to the last minute). Big mistake. Nanba - one of the centres of Osaka - was crowded with people shopping and after the quiet and solitude of the mountains it was all a bit too much for my mind to cope with. In the end I bought Takako some chocolates and got on a train as quickly as I could.