This post contains student writing.

On July 8th we traveled all the way from Kyoto to Koyasan! This took five trains, one bus, and a tram up the mountain before we finally made it. Even though it was an exhausting journey, it was all worth the trip! Once we got to the temple we were given tea and a bird-shaped cookie to enjoy, as they told us about the temple. We then moved our stuff in and had some free time to explore Koyasan before dinner time at 5:30. Dinner was vegetarian because Buddhists don’t believe in killing any living being. After enjoying our meal we got to explore Oku-no-In which is a cemetery located in the forest. Here we got to pray, learn about the significance of the lotus flower, and explore the different spiritual meanings within Buddhist culture. There were even flying squirrels, but we sadly didn’t see them! Then we headed back home and had a final intellectual discussion with our expert Hugh until it was time for bed.

On the fateful travel day on the 9th of July, our awesome group traveled for around 8 hours from a temple to an onsen near Mount Fuji. We took a bus, and then a tram, and then a train, and then another train, and then another train, and then… finally a bus! Today was essentially just a travel day. At 6:50AM, a group of us went to a ceremony led by monks which was very interesting; I think it was probably in an ancient language. After that, we ate breakfast and finally left the hostel. We traveled for around 3 to 4 hours until lunch — after purchasing bentos we went onto a bullet train towards Tokyo. We stopped at the Hakone Open-Air Museum and looked around at the art (we also may or may not have laughed and joked a bunch… 🙂  After the unique outdoor sculpture museum, we headed to our last destination of the day, the onsen hotel. Once settled in, we ate dinner, some of us enjoyed the onsen, and at last, we all got some rest.

Written by Luken and Romeo