Now, I should have left it at looking up pictures of the hotel and rooms, but no, inquisitive me looked further.........

From the hotel website: The rooms are decorated with, of course, more Christmas wreaths, baubles, bells and so on, and the decor is a festive red and green.

I should have left it there but no, on I went: Open the cabinet under the TV to discover Hotel Chapel Christmas mugs, which you can purchase as a souvenir of your stay. (You can also purchase Hotel Chapel Christmas-themed watches and jewellery, and get a loyalty card which stores up points and discounts.) You’ll also find karaoke microphones for that post-sex singing session so popular in Japan.Forgotten the sex toys? A cabinet is supplied for purchasing lubricant, vibrators and the like. Open the door, remove an item and the cost will be automatically added to your room tab. WHAT...............

OK, I’m for the first time in Japan, officially shocked, words fail me. Maybe that was why that lady had a wry grin when you were singing in the lift the other morning. SHOCK, HORROR. I’m supposed to be getting in the mood for my spiritual enlightenment, heading up the mountain to learn to meditate and chant. So long as you don’t sing about it.................. Watch Pepe’s face turn puce and her lip curl to form a growl. Just saying, is all, just saying. Growling low and menacingly.

I’m now trying to bleach my eyes and clear my mind of what I am picturing, conjuring up, stop it at once. But the one thought keeps bothering me, suppose you open the said ‘cabinet’ door and the charge rushes on to your bill and you find the wrong size, stay with me on this, as an English speaking woman I keep picturing how I would go to an unsuspecting night porter and ask to a) put the item back, b) get said object cleared off my bill and c) find a cooling towel to place on my now throbbing head. That may not be all that’s......... STOP..... STOP RIGHT THERE, BEAR. I’LL NOT CONTINUE with this..............

The roof tiles are gorgeous, that’s a complete change of subject, moving right along, they are made in the same way as in the UK, so why can’t we have something as distinctive.

Just one of the many hair-pins, all well assisted by big mirrors, one was so sharp though, we had to continue on to a strategically placed car park and double back on ourselves. The odd tunnel and up and up we went.

Eventually we reached the Daimon Gate which literally means "Large Gate" in Japanese, is a two-storey gate on the northern edge of the Koyasan Mountain. During the ancient times this gate was used as an official entrance into the Koyasan precincts. It is a large red gate and pretty impressive with the guardian kings each side.

We get off the local bus at its terminus, bimble past the furthest entrance to the biggest cemetery in Japan (a must see) and head up the hill to our digs as dusk falls.