DAY 1: OSAKA - KOYASAN (D)

Check out of your accommodation and leave large luggage with reception. Bring a smaller bag with a change of clothes, toiletries, any medications and valuables to carry with you. Catch a train from Osaka to Koyasan by one of two options: Nankai Line - from Osaka Namba Station travel by rail on the Nankai Koya Line to Gokurakubashi.

JR Line (recommended if using a Rail Pass) - catch a local train from Osaka to Hashimoto Station and then switch onto the private Nankai Line to continue the journey.

On arrival take the cable car up the mountainside to the Koyasan cable car station then take the bus to your Temple accommodation. This evening you might like to experience a meditation session with a Buddhist monk (optional extra) then enjoy Shojin Ryori, a delicious traditional vegetarian meal. Settle in for the night or take a night tour of the Okuno-in Cemetery (optional extra).

DAY 2: KOYASAN - KII KATSUURA (BD)

For those that like to get up early you might like to take a meditation session with a Buddhist monk (optional extra).

This morning enjoy a traditional vegetarian meal for breakfast. Check out of your accommodation, leaving your bags at reception, and catch the bus or walk to Okuno-in Cemetery. Okuno-in is said to be the place where Kukai entered an eternal meditation. There are some 200,000 monuments and gravestones of deceased daimyo (feudal samurai lords), and other memorial statues lining a two kilometre path through the forest. Although it is a cemetery, the place has a mystical ambiance that is strikingly beautiful. Be sure to arrive in time to experience the daily morning ritual at 10:30am where golden-robed monks prepare a meal for Kobo Daishi as part of a ritual that involves blessing food placed in a covered wooden box and carrying it up the temple stairs to the mausolea. Wander through the cemetery and discover monuments that many of Japan’s largest corporations have paid extravagant fees for huge marble monuments to be erected to honor deceased employees. Some are marble statues in the shape of the products the companies produce.

Following your visit to Okuno-in catch the bus to the Kongobu-ji Temple, the head temple of the Shingon School of Buddhism (the sect founded by Kukai). A designated national treasure. it is the oldest building in Koyasan. Enjoy a self-guided visit (own expense).

Return to your accommodation in the afternoon and collect your bags. Board your private coach and transfer to Kii Katsuura. On arrival transfer by ferry across to your accommodation.

DAY 3: KII KATSUURA - HIDAKA (BD)

This morning after breakfast check out of your accommodation and make your way to the Kii Katsuura fish market to learn about how fresh seafood is sourced from the ocean, brought to market and auctioned and distributed around Japan. See massive tuna being auctioned to fish mongers and restaurant chefs, and learn about what the buyers are searching for when buying quality fresh fish.

Board your private coach and travel to Kumano Nachi Taisha. Visit the shrine and take in the view of Nachi Falls. Walk along the Daimonzaka section of the Kumano pilgrimage route, a short but scenic portion from Nachisan Shrine-temple to Daimonzaka. Reboard your private coach and trave back to Kii Katsuura. Catch the train to Hidaka Station and check in to your accommodation.

DAY 4: HIDAKA - MIHAMA - HIDAKA (BLD)

After breakfast today's activities can include:

• Home Stay or Farm Stay
• Fruit picking (melons, mandarins, strawberries)
• Beach clean-up and dyeing plants/trees with seawater
• Beachcombing and sea glass biros making (Mihama)
• Black bamboo folk art making
• Seine netting experience
• My Umeboshi (pickled plum) making experience (Kishu Umeboshi Museum)
• Dried fish making experience (squid)
• Making Hayanare sushi (Salt-preserved pressed sushi)

DAY 5: HIDAKA - OSAKA (B)

After breakfast check out of your accommodation and return to Osaka by train.