Tackle Out!
I don't quite know where to begin. I've done and seen so much the past two days.
Tuesday we left the city of Tokyo in its famous Shinkansen bullet train, traveling to Nagano, home of Buddhist Zenkō-ji Temple. We were staying on the grounds of the temple itself, in a beautiful traditional style Japanese home. It had sliding doors, tatami flooring, and Japanese futon beds to sleep on.
After some tea, we went for a walk around the grounds of the temple itself. It was a beautiful sight, very traditional. I got lots of pictures!
After a mooch around some shops, we went back to the lodgings and I took part in traditional Japanese bathing. To do this I had to walk to the bathing area wearing just my robe. In the first room of the bathing area I had to remove my robe before entering the bathing room. In here I showered with the other men on my tour (the Japanese shower sitting down, which is very bizarre) before joining them in a large bath. The shower is where you clean yourself, the bath is just for relaxing in. The water temperature is too hot to stay in for too long, so after 3 or 4 minutes you have to come out and cool yourself down in the shower before reentering the bath. It was an enjoyable experience, even if I had to get my cock out for all to see!
After a good 40 minutes bathing, I got myself dressed and we went to a restaurant famous for their Soba (cold noodles). In all honesty I didn't think much of the cold noodles, but I still enjoyed the experience.
We returned to the lodgings at 8:45pm. The doors close at 9pm because it is part of the temple. Me and Natalie went straight to bed because we had a very early start the next morning.
This morning we were up at 4am. Every morning the monks hold a special chant to welcome the sunrise, and we were up to witness their ceremony. We first had to be blessed by the high priest. This involved kneeling down as he tapped us on the head with his special prayer beads. We were then lead inside the temple where the service began. It was fascinating to watch, even though sitting cross legged for an hour became very painful! After the service we went into a dark tunnel under the temple. So dark you cannot see your hands in front of your face, and have to feel your way through along the wall. Inside the tunnel is a special 'Key to Paradise' and Buddhists believe that if you find the key in the dark then you are guaranteed a path to paradise/enlightenment. I found the key, though I still doubt I'll ever reach paradise.
From here we returned to the lodgings for a traditional Buddhist breakfast. It was quite a large breakfast and very filling.
At 9am we went on an excursion to Yudanaka Onsen to see Japan's famous Snow Monkeys. The journey was a long one: an hour train journey, then another 20 minute train, followed by a taxi journey then a final 20 minute walk through the forest to the monkey park. The monkeys were cute as hell and I got lots of pictures of them. One monkey even stole Natalie's bottle of water. It was a fantastic experience.
We then travelled all the way back to Nagano to say one last goodbye to the city before catching our train and travelling through the Japanese Alps to Matsumoto. We're now checked into our hotel and are soon heading out for noodles and to check out the city. It's been a busy two days and I am absolutely exhausted, but it's been a fantastic experience and there is plenty yet to come.
Tuesday we left the city of Tokyo in its famous Shinkansen bullet train, traveling to Nagano, home of Buddhist Zenkō-ji Temple. We were staying on the grounds of the temple itself, in a beautiful traditional style Japanese home. It had sliding doors, tatami flooring, and Japanese futon beds to sleep on.
After some tea, we went for a walk around the grounds of the temple itself. It was a beautiful sight, very traditional. I got lots of pictures!
After a mooch around some shops, we went back to the lodgings and I took part in traditional Japanese bathing. To do this I had to walk to the bathing area wearing just my robe. In the first room of the bathing area I had to remove my robe before entering the bathing room. In here I showered with the other men on my tour (the Japanese shower sitting down, which is very bizarre) before joining them in a large bath. The shower is where you clean yourself, the bath is just for relaxing in. The water temperature is too hot to stay in for too long, so after 3 or 4 minutes you have to come out and cool yourself down in the shower before reentering the bath. It was an enjoyable experience, even if I had to get my cock out for all to see!
After a good 40 minutes bathing, I got myself dressed and we went to a restaurant famous for their Soba (cold noodles). In all honesty I didn't think much of the cold noodles, but I still enjoyed the experience.
We returned to the lodgings at 8:45pm. The doors close at 9pm because it is part of the temple. Me and Natalie went straight to bed because we had a very early start the next morning.
This morning we were up at 4am. Every morning the monks hold a special chant to welcome the sunrise, and we were up to witness their ceremony. We first had to be blessed by the high priest. This involved kneeling down as he tapped us on the head with his special prayer beads. We were then lead inside the temple where the service began. It was fascinating to watch, even though sitting cross legged for an hour became very painful! After the service we went into a dark tunnel under the temple. So dark you cannot see your hands in front of your face, and have to feel your way through along the wall. Inside the tunnel is a special 'Key to Paradise' and Buddhists believe that if you find the key in the dark then you are guaranteed a path to paradise/enlightenment. I found the key, though I still doubt I'll ever reach paradise.
From here we returned to the lodgings for a traditional Buddhist breakfast. It was quite a large breakfast and very filling.
At 9am we went on an excursion to Yudanaka Onsen to see Japan's famous Snow Monkeys. The journey was a long one: an hour train journey, then another 20 minute train, followed by a taxi journey then a final 20 minute walk through the forest to the monkey park. The monkeys were cute as hell and I got lots of pictures of them. One monkey even stole Natalie's bottle of water. It was a fantastic experience.
We then travelled all the way back to Nagano to say one last goodbye to the city before catching our train and travelling through the Japanese Alps to Matsumoto. We're now checked into our hotel and are soon heading out for noodles and to check out the city. It's been a busy two days and I am absolutely exhausted, but it's been a fantastic experience and there is plenty yet to come.