I was up bright and early today. I needed coffee badly, and discovered free coffee down stairs along the main hallway of the temple. It was freshly ground too, thank God. At 6am I had a prayer session in the main hall of the temple, and then half hour later I experienced a Goma fire ritual. Now THAT was awesome. For thirty minutes a monk chanted as he burnt sticks that represented prayers and wishes, while another monk beat a drum and chanted too. It was mesmerising and the experience woke me up, almost energising me. After breakfast, I handed over my extra luggage to the monks. Ekoin had been kind enough to hold onto all my luggage for the duration of my walk - 7 weeks. All I had now was my backpack, and it felt pretty good. After our goodbyes they wished me luck and I took the bus back to Koyasan Station, then the cable car back down the mountain. It was time to hit Wakayama and catch a ferry.

After an interesting take on a Western breakfast in the dingy basement of my hotel, I was out the door early to avoid the crowds. Juggling two bags of luggage and a backpack, I walked to Namba Station and headed to the Buddhist headquarters ok Koyasan, Mount Kōya. The train ride was absolutely beautiful, through cloudy mountains and along blue rivers. The steep ride to the top of Mount Kōya was by cable car, one that I last rode back in 2011. Once at the top I sat for a bit to take it all in. My emotions were running high, I was now at the home of Japanese Shingon Buddhism and my pilgrimage was only hours from beginning. I planned to visit Kūkai and ask for his guidance for my walk. I had no idea of the proper procedures with doing this since most people start the walk from Temple 1 in Shikoku, but I didn't care. I had my own reasons for doing the pilgrimage, just like everyone else, and to me that meant doing my own little thing in Koyasan.