{"id":11608,"date":"2017-05-29T06:32:34","date_gmt":"2017-05-29T04:32:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/urbanpixxels.com\/?p=11608"},"modified":"2024-03-27T13:58:56","modified_gmt":"2024-03-27T13:58:56","slug":"buddhist-temple-stay-koyasan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/urbanpixxels.com\/nl\/buddhist-temple-stay-koyasan\/","title":{"rendered":"Sleeping in a Japanese Buddhist temple: a unique stay you’ll never forget"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\"Koyasan<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Koyasan<\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I’m seeing snow on the side of the road. And I’m cold. So incredibly cold. We just arrived in Koyasan (Mount Koya) after a long journey from Osaka to stay at a Buddhist temple. It took a metro, three trains, one steep cable car and a bus to get here and to arrive in a different world. This is a side of Japan we haven’t experienced yet. Quiet, peaceful and with beautiful nature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And no cell phone reception. Which means that our pocket wifi isn’t working either. By now we’re so used to navigating with Google Maps that we assumed we would find our way from the bus station to the temple using our phones. Guess not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But Koyasan is a small town, and even though there are 117 temples (a small number compared to the 2000 during the Edo period), we manage to find ‘our temple’ using a simple tiny map in the Lonely Planet and a map on the side of the road. Good to know I can still survive without a phone (sort of).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Ekoin: overnight stay at a 1200 year old Buddhist temple<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Koyasan<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A young monk welcomes us at the 1200 year old Ekoin temple<\/a> in perfect English. We leave our shoes at the entrance and go to our room wearing our Japanese indoor slippers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is not a hotel or a ryokan<\/a> (although the room looks similar), but a ‘shukubo’ which means pilgrim lodging at a temple. You get a chance to experience what life at a Buddhist temple is like, while being completely free to participate or not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You eat and sleep in your own room (on the tatami floor) and share the bathrooms (super clean, because: Japan) with the other guests. Oh, and there’s wifi!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eating like a Buddhist Monk: Shojin-Ryori<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Koyasan<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Dinner time starts early at the temple. At 5.30pm they bring a beautifully looking meal to our room. This Buddhist, vegetarian style of eating is called shojin-ryori and I love it. I would love it even more if I was sitting more comfortably (I never know what to do with my legs when I’m eating while sitting on the floor), but it’s all part of the experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\"Koyasan<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Koyasan<\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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Video: Staying at a Buddhist Temple in Koyasan, Japan<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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