I am early for the tour and am made to wait in the entrance hall. At least I am out of the snow, although it’s colder inside than it was outside. Exactly on schedule, I am ushered in for a security check and then taken back to the cold entrance room for an introduction. Sasha, a youthful but stern 20-something, is my guide. His English leaves much to be desired and he speaks in a loud, military-style voice that seems appropriate for this … [Read more...]
About Pete Martin
Traveller. Author. Transformational journeys.
Mount Koya: Beware of Bears
The story of the Karukaya, wandering the Kongobuji & Danjo Garan and spending the night in a shukubo The hall is now preserved as a hermitage where father and son practiced asceticism together for over forty years. I stop at Karukayado (the Hall of Karukaya). The Karukaya is a story of a boy called Ishidomaru who came to Koya-san in order to meet his father. The boy met a monk, who was in fact his father, but, as the monk had renounced … [Read more...]