“Speeding Through Japan” –Travel day to Mt. Koya

Today begin early around 8am and there was a good reason for the early start to the day because our mission was to reach Mt. Koya located many miles away from Tokyo. The night before we were warned that today would be the day we wish we brought less luggage. I didn’t look too much into that statement but I definitely wished I had fewer luggage as our travel day begun.
The traveling began with a simple trip on the train like we had been doing all week. We took the city train to the Tokyo station where our daylong journey would begin on the bullet trains. I have read about how fast and nice these bullet trains were in a magazine a few years back so I was very excited about getting the chance to take a trip across Japan on their bullet line.
To get out of the city of Tokyo it took us around two hours on the bullet train where we transferred train line a few times once we reached the city of Osaka. As we traveled further away from the city, I notice the scenery and the culture of the Japanese began to seem a lot slower and conservative. We were traveling through the mountains and the structure of the homes began to change and the technology of each train station was a lot less than ones closer to the cities in Japan.
Once we arrived to Mt. Koya we had to ride up a cable car to get to the top of the mountain. The cable car was fun, it moved at a slow pace and felt like we were climbing up to a roller coaster. Once we got to the top we took a bus that dropped us off in front of the temple we would be staying the night in. I was very skeptical about staying in a temple when I found out it was included in the activities, but the temple was a highlight of my trip so far.
The design was like a hotel and was made for tourist of the mountain. It was very modern and relaxing after a long day of travel. We all embraced the culture of staying in the temple so we all participated in a traditional way of taking a bath (the Monk way) and wearing the robes that were provided in each room. The washroom had about six showerheads and a big heated tub. You are required to shower first rinsing all the soap then relax in the tub, it was one of the best baths I have ever took and will never forget. I had gotten some of the best sleep in the temple that night and in the morning we got to witness the monks doing their daily chants.
At the end of the day the long 10-hr day of traveling was worth the experience we received staying on Mt. Koya and in the temple.