Kyoto – Koyasan – Kinosaki

After a journey through the Geisha (Gayko) part of Kyoto we relaxed and had a few beers back at our pad.  The people here are just so friendly…this is probably due to Layla as everyone either wants a photo of her or with her, we might start charging money soon!  And the place is really such a nice place to visit, plenty of little laneways that go nowhere, temples temples temples, great food on every corner oh and they also have temples here.

We left Kyoto for Mount Koya (or Koyasan) this is a small village high in the mountains where vegetarian buddhist monks live and run Ryokan Temple Hotels.  These are very popular as there are over 50 of them in such a small place.  The whole attraction for most people would be a 2k walk through the forest which is lined with shrines.  It was such a cool relaxing place under the tall pines to escape the killer heat we are having here.  Also you get to have a vegetarian meal in your RYokan (traditional Japanese style room – futon – tatami mat etc) which was quite nice but some of the stuff I have no idea what we were eating. 

After a one night stay there we made our way to the coastal town of Kanasaki, which is famous for the Onsens (which are natural hot baths) there are 7 in this small village with a total of about 3000 across the entirety of Japan.  Your hotel provides you with a Yataka (robe) and wooden shoes to walk to your one of the Onsens.  This is all the rage as everyone walks down the street in there robe and wooden shoes!!  This place is also known for it`s kick ass seafood which is excellent by the way.  There speciality is crab…havent had a crab yet but will do tomorrow…the prawns are Oshii Des(delicious).

Here are some photos for your enjoyment