Day 19: Travel to Mt. Koya

We’ll leave Hiroshima today and make our way to Mt. Koya. This is a long but leisurely journey and we’ll have an opportunity to admire Japan's landscape.

Mt. Koya is the home of Shingon Buddhism, it's a site of pilgrimage for Buddhists around the world. Here we can retreat from the world, enjoy the hospitality of Shingon Monks in a working temple and relax in a spiritual atmosphere.

Tonight we’ll hopefully enjoy a night time walk through the Okuno-In cemetery. Led by a local monk, Tamura-San, this walk finishes at the lantern-lit mausoleum of Kobo-Daishi, the founder of Shingon Buddhism who the monks believe is still alive and meditating within the mausoleum.

Day 20: Exploring Mt. Koya

Today we’ll spending wandering around Koya-san, visiting temples along the way and soaking up the atmosphere.