Day 15 - Koya San

54.5 km; 3hr 0min; (18.1km/h)

After having the usual combini breakfast in the hotel room, its back to the road and very quickly on the outskirts of Wakayama. Very soon on route 3 which is back in the nirvana land of rolling hills, terraced rice fields and mist rising from the trees. Just about manages not to rain, until I arrive at the info office in Koya san.

Route 3 has one steep section, but the main climb is on route 480, after joining 370 from the south. So all the routes meet here, yet still the traffic is not great. Virtually all the visitors to Koya san will ascend the mountain tram to the north of the town, and as its a weekday with poor weather this keeps this also keeps the traffic low. But its still Golden Week, where are the crowds?
The last 5km of the climb are never ending bends and turns on a very smooth road, the gradient is only around 7-8% so its very comfortable climb. Still, Koya san is around 1000m and so higher than anywhere I visited on Shikoku
. As the ride started from sea level plus a few minor hills in between, so its a good ride to complete my adventure.

The western entrance to Koya san has a huge and very impressive main gate, yet I could hardly see it through the clouds, almost fog by the time I got to the top!

When you arrive in Koya san you will most likely be dropped off by the bus by the information center. They're very helpful here and can arrange a nights stay in one of the many shukobo here, you just pick a point on the price scale. Its more expensive than staying in the temples on Shikoku, 10,000 yen was the bottom end of the scale.

They book me a place at Shojoshin-in, I am very happy with this as I took many photos of this temple when I visited the town on a previous visit. Its at the eastern end of town, just before the path to the Okunoin. Bath not ready till 4pm, but I check in and leave my bike to walk around town.

Have a slow lunch as the rain eases, then I take my time among the giant cedars of the forested cemetery on the 2km path to the Okunoin. There are over 200,000 grave stones here from military commanders to ordinary people. There is even a gravestone from a pesticide company, saying sorry for all the termites and ants they have killed over the years.

Kobo Daishi was laid to rest, or according to legend started his eternal meditation on March 21st 835 ad at the age of 62. It is believed he is still alive, and 2 meals are prepared for him each day. A great many people, buddhist or not, come to this temple to pray and pay homage to the daishi. It is the central sanctuary of the Daishi faith.

It is an impressive place to end my journey, after following in the footsteps of Kobo daishi to arrive at his resting place here in the Okunoin. After this, I will be back on my own journey again without the guidance of the daishi.

One more official stamp in the nokyocho, but I don't stop there as there are some blank washi pages and so I visit the Hondo and the Konpon Datto (the great Stuppa) where I really do get my final stamps in my nokyocho.

After enjoying the rest of the afternoon amongst the beautiful buildings and forest of the town, its time for a bath then evening meal at 5:30pm. In Shikoku the meals were communal which was nice as I got to talk with other henro, but here I am given a room to myself. Very exclusive, but I would have liked to talk about the journey with other pilgrims about my last 2 weeks at this point. The very tasty and substantial vegetarian meal is served by a monk.

The town of Koya shuts down at 5:00pm, the doors to the temple close at 6pm, so it really is a place of peace and meditation. No party here, at the end of my journey, but quiet reflection on a great journey.

Ceremony is at 6am in the temple tomorrow morning, I will thank Kobo daishi for leading me safely on this wonderful pilgrimage. This is one tour I could repeat in the future, but for now I'll take the photos and memories, and hopefully persuade other cyclists to become ohenro if only for 2-3 weeks. But who knows, one lap of Shikoku in the footsteps of Kobo daishi might be the first of your 21 circuits, or 41 or....