Nara

While Greg & Laura were enjoying their tour of Kyoto, Joe and I decided to see a new city while in mainland.  We went to the very, very old capital of Japan, Nara.

Nara was about a 40 minute express-train ride from Kyoto Station.

Family usually asks what our Japanese tickets look like.  This was actually the ticket returning to Kyoto.

When we got off the train and started our walk, we were immediately met by the sacred Nara deer.  There were more deer here, than I think there were in Hiroshima.  These deer were also a little smarter, because the locals sold deer food to tourists..... there'll be some videos of that later!

The "tour" we took of Nara was one large loop, starting at the station.  We walked to this large park area (where the deer generally are) to visit: Isuien Garden, Yoshiki-en Garden, Todai-ji (Great Buddha Hall), and two other places I can't recall the name of right now, since my tour books have been shipped home.  It will come back to me soon.....

While waiting for Isuien Garden to open, we came across Yoshiki-en Garden.  This was a stunning walk in the early morning. 

"standard" garden

Moss Garden

Isuien Garden did not disappoint.  It was beautiful!  Of course, we took a ton of photos; I'll try to select just a few.
 

 

Next, we were off to Todai-ji, the largest wooden building in the world, houseing the world's largest Buddha.

Guard gate

One of two guardians inside the gate

Todai-ji

the great Buddha

Our next stop was Nigatsu-do, another Buddhist temple.  This temple didn't have a large buddha, but a beautiful view.

The walking in between temples and sights was just as lovely.  We saw more deer, a newly married couple, school kids on tours and beautiful scenery.

The next sight was Kasuga-taisha (Shinto shrine).  This shrine was beautiful and unique because of the many, many lanterns.  I think our tour book said that there were over 3,000.

Wisteria within the shrine

Our day in Nara was nearly finished after this shrine.  It was time to head back to the station area for lunch.  On the way, we passed one last sight, Kofuku-ji, another Buddhist temple.  

Very friendly deer

 We enjoyed a udon lunch at a local restaurant -- it was actually the first time we were in a restaurant that only served udon.  I can't believe it took us so long!   I had a more traditional hot udon soup with tempura.  Joe had a "newer" style where you dip the udon into a more concentrataed broth.  Both were delicious!

My lunch

Joe's lunch

You can see the guy making the noodles in the shop -- fresh udon was great!

Before I forget, here's the video of the deer in Nara.  It really is funny that the foreign (and maybe local) visitors think that the deer are going to wait in an orderly fashion for their snack!