Saturday 22nd April, 2017
Koyasan to Lake Biwa, Nagahama (244 kms)
Up early to attend morningprayers at 6.30am with the monks.
A lot of chanting by two monks and one monk attended to the fire offering. The room became very smokey.
After a vegan breakfast we drove down the mountain to Shiga Prefecture and Lake Biwa, the largest fresh water lake in Japan.
One of the traditional products of this region is pottery from Shigaraki with the most famous product, and which we have seen everywhere, is the fat bellied "tanuki" (like a racoon) who usually carries a bottle of sake. It is said that in this town the pottery racoons outnumber the humans!
Lunch was a tasty box of bread, pastry and cake at the MIHO Museum which opened in 1997, and is situated deep in a forested hill. A very modern structure of steel, glass and marble.
On the shore of Lake Biwa (biwa is a traditional stringed instrument) Hikone Castle is situated and we had time for a quick walk around before heading for the hotel.
Three Regularities before lunch, reasonably short ones and we did OK on these. The final Regularity of the day was approx. 19kms and we missed a turn and completely got lost, as did others. This caused us to dop five places, down to 11th overall.
At the hotel we were met by costumed "Hideyoshi-kun", the public relations mascot for the Nagahama tourism.
Koyasan to Lake Biwa, Nagahama (244 kms)
Up early to attend morningprayers at 6.30am with the monks.
A lot of chanting by two monks and one monk attended to the fire offering. The room became very smokey.
After a vegan breakfast we drove down the mountain to Shiga Prefecture and Lake Biwa, the largest fresh water lake in Japan.
One of the traditional products of this region is pottery from Shigaraki with the most famous product, and which we have seen everywhere, is the fat bellied "tanuki" (like a racoon) who usually carries a bottle of sake. It is said that in this town the pottery racoons outnumber the humans!
Lunch was a tasty box of bread, pastry and cake at the MIHO Museum which opened in 1997, and is situated deep in a forested hill. A very modern structure of steel, glass and marble.
On the shore of Lake Biwa (biwa is a traditional stringed instrument) Hikone Castle is situated and we had time for a quick walk around before heading for the hotel.
Three Regularities before lunch, reasonably short ones and we did OK on these. The final Regularity of the day was approx. 19kms and we missed a turn and completely got lost, as did others. This caused us to dop five places, down to 11th overall.
At the hotel we were met by costumed "Hideyoshi-kun", the public relations mascot for the Nagahama tourism.
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