What is the collective noun for a group of monks?

With my newly-shaved head, I increasingly resemble a monk. A Jewish monk. Which made last week’s trip to Koya-san even more appropriate. It’s a beautiful place-all forests, hills and impressive temples.

But the most impressive part was the Okunoin graveyard. Now, I know it’s a Smiths-fan cliché, but I do enjoy a good graveyard wander. Even though I’m acknowledging the indie affectation, writing that does make me wince slightly. It’s true though-one of my favourite sites in Paris is the Pere-Lachaise cemetry (sic-get me, I can even spell in an irritatingly referential way) where I spent a delightfully pretentious afternoon back in 2002. The graveyard at Koya-san was huge, mossy, varied and had a whiff of Indiana Jones about it. We spent much of our time wandering off the path and being unsure if that was allowed. But it felt great to walk inbetween the graves and let them surround you. As with Fushimi Inari in Kyoto, it was surprisingly easy to escape the crowds and find a bit of solitude amongst the grave stones.

Man, I’m so wet sometimes.

I loved all the moss.

We stayed in a temple at one end of the graveyard. The temple itself was amazing-absolutely massive with beautiful gardens, a friendly band of monks (what is the collective noun for a group of monks?) and a really serene feel to the rooms with a pretty view. My main memory will be the constant chorus of frogs that provided the background to our stay. The frogs are so noisy in Japan this week! Seriously, last night they kept me awake in my apartment!

My nemesis.

One reason to stay in the temple lodgings is that you can eat shojin ryori food. This is a type of vegan cuisine. No meat, fish or anything meat/fish related. There were a few highlights. I really liked the main piece of tofu, which was well flavoured. Tofu is great at taking on other tastes and although I sometimes dislike the consistency of it, this time it was excellent. There was also some especially tasty tempura that I’d have liked more of. But on the whole, I wasn’t a fan. There were too many bland components, overcooked veg, foamy textures and a lack of satisfaction about the whole thing. Still, it was great to try something new.

In separate news, I’ve continued to be a bit under the weather these past few days. In fact, it’s been almost a fortnight since I last felt genuinely okay. I don’t get sick very often but I have had an increasing number of minor medical complaints this past year or two, which is one of the reasons I’ve been attempting to be a bit healthier. But my current problem (a recurring shortness of breath and occasional stomach pains) is really irritating as it saps your energy. When it started it would only last for twenty minutes or so at a time, but recently it’s been lasting whole days. Very annoying, especially at a time when my general health is improving. I’ve been running 3 times a week, doing taiko once a week, cycling and eating better food. I’ve cut down on alcohol since Christmas and I’ve also barely smoked in the last few months. I suspect that all the above symptoms are related to the nicotine withdrawal, but still. It’s actually started to stop me doing things and that’s a major headache. Getting treated properly here is hard work without good Japanese skills and my doctor here seemed pretty clueless about what was going on. Though that didn’t stop him from prescribing me tranquilizers that I’m almost certainly not going to take. I’m hoping that it will go away on its own as it’s starting to majorly piss me off.