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For the New Year I was in Indonesia at Tuk Tuk on Samosir Island in Lake Toba, Sumatra. Shortly after the New Year I traveled back to Medan and then caught an over night bus up to Banda Aceh on the extreme northern coast of Sumatra. The Aceh province had a more extreme form of Islam than the rest of Indonesia and generally wanted its independence from the rule of Jakarta. Banda Aceh had a beautiful central mosque and a colorful central market, however, I had really traveled up to the province to go out to the island called Pulau Weh. From Banda Aceh's port of Krueng Raja it was a 2.5 hour sailing out to the idyllic tropical island which was famous for it's marine national park and diving.
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1996 Travel Diary (Part 1)

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2005-12-23 14:40:13

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From Osaka it was two local trains and then a cable car up to the town of Koya-san, which was located on a thickly forested tableland surrounded by eight peaks. I stayed in a small temple / ryokan, and had a traditional Japanese style room which opened up onto a beautiful ornate garden. The other guests were extremely friendly and despite them not speaking a word of English we seemed to have a great time. After a delicious evening meal I joined the other guests who went out to see the evening procession for the celebration of Kobo-Daichi's birthday. Kobo-Daichi had been the priest who had established the Buddhist monastic complex that Koya-san was famous for. The colorfully lit floats were quite a spectacle and I felt very lucky to have arrived on such a special date.

The following day my first visit was to the temple of Okunoin, where Kobo-Daichi was enshrined. The path to the temple was through a dense forest of huge old Cedar trees and was flanked by hundreds of old tombstones. The tombstones were of the most important people in the history of Japan, including Emperors, Shoguns, Samurai, warriors and priests etc. The main hall of the temple Toro-do (Lantern Hall) housed thousands of burning lanterns and behind was the tomb of Kobo-Daichi. At the tomb there were hundreds of pilgrims saying their prayers and lighting incense and candles. I also visited the Garan (Sacred Precinct) where I saw the grand Kondo (Main Hall) and Dai-to (Great Pagoda). At the Sacred Precinct I met a group of friendly monks who could speak a bit of English, and seemed to enjoy showing me around.

From Koya-san I traveled via Osaka to Kyoto, the cultural capital of Japan. I arrived in the evening and quickly found a popular Gaijin House (Foreigners House) in the downtown area. I spent three days exploring the many sight of Kyoto, including the famous hillside temple of Kiyomizu-deca, the canal side walk called 'The Path of Philosophy', the beautiful ...