Koya-san
Kōya-san (Mount Kōya) is a mountain in Wakayama prefecture to the south of Osaka, Japan, primarily known as the headquarters of the Shingon sect of Japanese Buddhism. First settled in 816 by the monk Kūkai as a retreat far away from the courtly intrigues of Kyoto, Mt. Koya is located in a 800m-high valley amid the 8 peaks of the mountain. The original monastery has grown into the town of Koya, featuring a university dedicated to religious studies and over 100 temples, many of which offer lodging to pilgrims. In 2004, UNESCO designated Mt. Koya as a World Heritage Site.
The mountain is accessible primarily by the Nankai Electric Railway from Namba Station in Osaka, which connects to Gokurakubashi at the base of the mountain. Koya limited expresses take 80 minutes and cost ¥1610, while ordinary expresses are lower priced at ¥1210 and take only 10 minutes longer at 90 minutes. The final half of the trip is a slow climb up into the mountains and extremely scenic in good weather.
If you are traveling to Koyasan from Kyoto, you can use a JR pass to get to Tennoji on the Kansai Airport Express train. You will then need to change to the Osaka Loop train and get off at Shin Imamiya, where you can transfer to the Nankai (private) express train. At this point you will need to pay approx. ¥1230 to get from Shin Imamiya to the top of Mount Koya (includes the cable car ride). Depending on the time of day, you may need to transfer at one of the stops before ending up at Gokurakubashi, though if you time your trip right, you can take an Express train straight to the foot of the mountain at Gokurakubashi.
A cable car from Gokurakubashi then whisks visitors to the top in 5 minutes for ¥360. From the cable car station you'll have to take a bus to town (5-15 minutes depending on your destination). Train, cable car and bus schedules are synchronized so this works better than it may sound. A good value way to reach Koya-san is to purchase the Koyasan Free Sabic Ticket for ¥2780 (express) or ¥4000 (ltd express) available from the Nankai ticket counter. This ticket includes return train, cable car, and all-day bus pass. Note that the ticket only works if you are not spending the night on Koyasan. Also gives coupons for small discounts to popular destinations on the mountain.
From October 1 to November 30, the 'Koyasan one day ticket' may be purchased. This is similar to the ticket above but also includes connection to a single private railway, giving good value for money. For example, Hankyu (¥3000), Hanshin (¥2900), Keihan (¥3000), Kintetsu (¥2980), etc. (Japanese) JR passes cannot be used for the journey; the closest JR station is in Hashimoto, some 20 km away.
Hiking around Mount Koya is a good option. Among many courses, there is one that starts at Daimon (big gate), hiking up to a tiny shrine at the top of Bentengaku, and then down to Nyonindou. Not a difficult hike, and should take only a couple of hours, depending on how often you stop on the way to take photos. You can encounter a few species of lizards and snakes along the way, such as jimuguri (apanese Forest Ratsnake), the Japanese five-lined skink, and the Japanese grass lizard. From the top you can see all the way south to Wakayama city and the ocean.
All temple lodgings on Mt. Koya offer shōjin ryori, purely vegetarian food intended for monks. People who equate vegetarian food with blandness will be surprised - in their hundreds of years of experience with vegetarian cooking, the monks have invented amazingly tasty dishes. An exception is the local specialty, Kōya-dōfu, prepared by freeze-drying and then reconstituting tofu, which manages to be even more tasteless than the original.
