As the guesthouse did not provide breakfast, we had asked the host the night before on the recommended place to have breakfast. She recommended us to this 100-year old restaurant. It was neither difficult nor easy to find the place. Our worry was, since it is a 100-year old restaurant, it probably does not have an English menu.
And we were right.
Anyhow, we managed to pull it through and left Ise to go back to Osaka to make our way to Mount Koya.
It was a long journey to Mount Koya. We paid extra to take Limited Express (less stops that Local Train) and had to change to a cable car and lastly took a bus to reach the place.
We were staying a night in a Buddhist temple and they provided dinner for that day itself plus breakfast for the next morning. However, the only condition for serving the dinner is you need to check-in before 5.30pm.
And we reached the temple at exactly 5.30pm!
What to do? They serve dinner either 6pm or 6.30pm.
To be honest, I love the room. It is the best room for this entire trip. Traditional, yes, and a little bit of modern’s touch.
Dinner was served in our room. The monks brought the food to us. We were not given a period of them to finish our food. We could just give them a call after we are done. Since it is a Buddhist temple, of course they serve vegan meals for both dinner and breakfast. It was my very first time to have a vegan meal. It was weirdly delicious.
What happened next was the most interesting story. The temple does not provide private bathroom in each room. It is a shared bath and only operates from 4pm to 9pm. Since we did not have enough time to explore Mount Koya and to make it for the bath, we decided to stay in. Plus, there is a curfew in the temple which is 10pm.
When I went to explore the bath, I was surprised to learn that it is an open bath! Of course divided into genders. But still..
It was a bit awkward for me but, I was lucky because no one else was there when I was taking my bath. I even dip myself in the hot pool to relax my feet. Unfortunately for the boyfriend, he had to two other men in the bath with him. Well, he was proud to show, well, you know..
Anyhow, it was a great experience and I truly enjoyed them!
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