I recently stayed overnight in a temple during a trip to Japan. It was located in a temple village on Mount Koya, or Koyasan in Japanese, south of Osaka. Probably no need to mention the majority of the overnight places in this village were temples, and therefore the amount of tourists was also quite high.
To get to the top of Mount Koya, we took a 5 minute cable car ride from the train station where the train dropped us off. The train ride from Osaka was really scenic, passing plenty of small villages on our way to the cable car. When we arrived to the top we had to get on a 10 minute bus ride to get to the village. We weren't allowed to walk from there as the road was quite narrow and not safe for pedestrians.
Arriving at the temple the first thing we had to do before entering was to take of our shoes as they're not allowed inside. The receptionist, who of course was a monk, greeted us in fluent English in a tiny room full of paperwork, books and documents in a charming mess. He told us that at 6am there would be a morning prayer that we could assist if we wanted to and that breakfast would be following at 7am sharp. Unlike at hotels, everybody has to meet for breakfast at the same time. You cannot arrive later and expect to get served.
As we found our way to the room we felt we were walking back in time. Everything was quite dated, but fitted into the surroundings and the atmosphere of the place. So do not book a stay in a temple and expect to find luxury like TV in the room. Our room had an OK size but was very simple with 2 chairs, a small table and a sink. And there were actually a couple biscuits and tea making facilities as well. For the bathroom facilities, they were shared. We also had a balcony with view to the temple garden. The area was really calm so we easily forgot the outside world while we were there.
There was no dinner served at the temple for guests, but we were expecting to have at least a few restaurant options to choose from in the village. It turned out everything closed around 6pm so we started preparing our minds to go to bed hungry that night. Luckily, we ended up finding a small place accepting our "last minute meal" at 6.30pm.
Since everything was closed in the village, we decided to try the onsen at the temple after dinner. The onsen is a Japanese style shared hot springs bath, but with separate facilities for men and women. At our temple this was an inside facility and more like a tiny pool with no hot springs. We got into a changing room where we were expected to leave all our clothes and belongings. You're allowed to bring soaps and shampoos with you though as you obviously need to make sure you're clean before you get into the bath. The pool was in the next room and right beside it there were small plastic stools for sitting down while you scrub yourself clean. For each stool there were taps and shower heads. Once the scrubbing was done, we got into the pool. This is a shared pool and no swim suits are allowed, so there's absolutely no privacy. Not the most comfortable experience for a Northern European, I have to admit. I think I didn't last more than 5 minutes... But at least I tried it!
By 9pm we were ready to go to bed. The beds where 2 really thin mattresses laying on the floor with sheets over them. We had an extra sheet to cover ourselves and a very flat pillow. The sheets didn't seem to have been cleaned since the previous guests, but we didn't want to make a fuzz so left it at that. We had been expecting to sleep quite well thanks to the quiet surroundings, but we didn't realize before going to bed that the walls were paper thin and that our neighbor had probably won Olympic medals in snoring. Since these mattresses were so thin and we're both spoiled with thick, soft mattresses at home, we both had back and hip aches during the whole night, so we were glad we had not booked more than 1 night.
The next morning we got up bright and early and dressed in our orange temple clothes that were left for us in our room and walked down to the prayer room. A few other guests had also found their way this early in the morning. We were all sitting down at the back of the room, some on benches and some on the floor. At the front of the room, 2-3 monks sitting with their backs to us started the prayer. This was my first Buddhist prayer so it was a very interesting experience to me. One of the monks talked the guests during the prayer, probably explaining what was going on, but it was all in Japanese, so it didn't help us. Towards the end of the prayer, we were advised to go outside and walk barefoot across the stones in the garden. We all did a small tour before coming back in and finishing up the prayer ceremony.
We then crossed the hallway to get to the breakfast hall. When we entered the hall, there were several small tables on the floor lined up in 4-5 rows. Each person got its own little table, sitting on the floor and all breakfasts were the same, vegetarian with tofu as a base.
I don't know if we weren't allowed to or if it was just that no one dared to make a sound, but the whole breakfast went by in complete silence, well done knowing there were about 40 people in the room... After breakfast, I was still hungry as I'm not used to light morning meals, so I had to "cheat" and eat a few cookies before we headed off to our next stop on our trip.
This temple stay was one of the things that I was looking forward to the most on my trip. I didn't expect luxury, but I have to admit that the quality was lower than expected. Even though I'll probably not repeat it, the temple stay was definitely worth trying once as I got to see and try a lifestyle that is really different from what I'm used to. It seemed to be a very peaceful and humble lifestyle, which I believe we all can benefit and learn from.
To get to the top of Mount Koya, we took a 5 minute cable car ride from the train station where the train dropped us off. The train ride from Osaka was really scenic, passing plenty of small villages on our way to the cable car. When we arrived to the top we had to get on a 10 minute bus ride to get to the village. We weren't allowed to walk from there as the road was quite narrow and not safe for pedestrians.
Arriving at the temple the first thing we had to do before entering was to take of our shoes as they're not allowed inside. The receptionist, who of course was a monk, greeted us in fluent English in a tiny room full of paperwork, books and documents in a charming mess. He told us that at 6am there would be a morning prayer that we could assist if we wanted to and that breakfast would be following at 7am sharp. Unlike at hotels, everybody has to meet for breakfast at the same time. You cannot arrive later and expect to get served.
As we found our way to the room we felt we were walking back in time. Everything was quite dated, but fitted into the surroundings and the atmosphere of the place. So do not book a stay in a temple and expect to find luxury like TV in the room. Our room had an OK size but was very simple with 2 chairs, a small table and a sink. And there were actually a couple biscuits and tea making facilities as well. For the bathroom facilities, they were shared. We also had a balcony with view to the temple garden. The area was really calm so we easily forgot the outside world while we were there.There was no dinner served at the temple for guests, but we were expecting to have at least a few restaurant options to choose from in the village. It turned out everything closed around 6pm so we started preparing our minds to go to bed hungry that night. Luckily, we ended up finding a small place accepting our "last minute meal" at 6.30pm.
Since everything was closed in the village, we decided to try the onsen at the temple after dinner. The onsen is a Japanese style shared hot springs bath, but with separate facilities for men and women. At our temple this was an inside facility and more like a tiny pool with no hot springs. We got into a changing room where we were expected to leave all our clothes and belongings. You're allowed to bring soaps and shampoos with you though as you obviously need to make sure you're clean before you get into the bath. The pool was in the next room and right beside it there were small plastic stools for sitting down while you scrub yourself clean. For each stool there were taps and shower heads. Once the scrubbing was done, we got into the pool. This is a shared pool and no swim suits are allowed, so there's absolutely no privacy. Not the most comfortable experience for a Northern European, I have to admit. I think I didn't last more than 5 minutes... But at least I tried it!
The next morning we got up bright and early and dressed in our orange temple clothes that were left for us in our room and walked down to the prayer room. A few other guests had also found their way this early in the morning. We were all sitting down at the back of the room, some on benches and some on the floor. At the front of the room, 2-3 monks sitting with their backs to us started the prayer. This was my first Buddhist prayer so it was a very interesting experience to me. One of the monks talked the guests during the prayer, probably explaining what was going on, but it was all in Japanese, so it didn't help us. Towards the end of the prayer, we were advised to go outside and walk barefoot across the stones in the garden. We all did a small tour before coming back in and finishing up the prayer ceremony.We then crossed the hallway to get to the breakfast hall. When we entered the hall, there were several small tables on the floor lined up in 4-5 rows. Each person got its own little table, sitting on the floor and all breakfasts were the same, vegetarian with tofu as a base.
I don't know if we weren't allowed to or if it was just that no one dared to make a sound, but the whole breakfast went by in complete silence, well done knowing there were about 40 people in the room... After breakfast, I was still hungry as I'm not used to light morning meals, so I had to "cheat" and eat a few cookies before we headed off to our next stop on our trip.
This temple stay was one of the things that I was looking forward to the most on my trip. I didn't expect luxury, but I have to admit that the quality was lower than expected. Even though I'll probably not repeat it, the temple stay was definitely worth trying once as I got to see and try a lifestyle that is really different from what I'm used to. It seemed to be a very peaceful and humble lifestyle, which I believe we all can benefit and learn from.
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