Nara in the Autumn (Watch Out for the Deer!)

I was so inspired by the beautiful fall foliage that I saw in Kyoto that I wanted to visit Nara.  I knew that Nara had some beautiful parks so I knew this was the place to go to.  So after visiting Kyoto last Wednesday, I planned a daytrip to Nara the following Saturday.  I was almost tempted to spend the night in Nara because it takes 2 to 2 ½ hours to get to Nara by train, but I wanted to save some money so I only made it a day trip.  I thought I would simply get up early and leave by the time the sun was setting in the city.  That actually gave me plenty of time to see what I had planned for.  In fact, it gave me enough time to fit in a few extra sights.

So first, here is a picture of my tickets to Nara.  I’m on my way!  (And I ended up sleeping in by an hour.  So much for getting up early.  Oh well, it’s a Saturday and I still had plenty of time in the day.)

This statue was in the station.  It was one of the first things I saw in Nara.  He’s a strange little dude with antlers.  I am assuming that he is Nara’s mascot because I saw pictures of him throughout the city.  Also, I knew that Nara was famous for their deer, and so if your town is famous for deer, why not have a human mascot with deer antlers?  That makes perfect sense…(There have been some pretty strange mascots in North America, too!)

So first, I stopped at a restaurant for an early lunch.  The restaurant was more formal than I realized (and here I am, in my grungy-comfy tourist clothes) but the staff didn’t seem to mind.  In fact, the service was outstanding, as it usually tends to be in Japan.  Here are the pictures I took of the restaurant and my lunch.

(Did I mention there was a salad bar at this restaurant?  Nice!!)

So now that I had a full stomach, I was ready for my day!  It was difficult walking down the street because there were a lot of shops.  It reminded me of the main street in downtown Banff.  It was busy, but less busy than Banff.  Here are a couple of pictures:

Check out the special formal toe socks!  Nice!

This beautiful waterfall fountain…was right beside a washroom and a smoking section.  Go figure.  It also looks like it’s right behind someone’s house.

These guys were swinging their hammers in time to hit/knead the mochi dough in front them.  Every time they hit the dough with their hammer, they yelled at the top of their lungs.  How dramatic!

Here is the mochi machine. 

This pond was nearby the first temple I wanted to check out.

So this is the Kofukuji Temple that has a five story Pagoda, the second tallest Pagoda in all of Japan.  It was a lovely area.

This is the Nara National Museum.  I didn’t visit it because I already went through it in 2003.  I’m sure I will go again one day, but I had limited time and I wanted to see the fall leaves. 

Speaking of leaves, here are more pictures of some of the trees I saw on my walk:

So there were a lot of deer in Nara.  Everywhere.  Street vendors would sell deer food to the tourists to give to the “wild” deer.  Now, these deer seemed pretty tame.  But from my experience with wild life in Canada (especially big wild life), it’s best to stay away.  I did see some deer chasing grown men with deer treats so I’m glad I stayed away from them.

This deer watched my every move.  Strange…

So the places I wanted to visit the most was the Yoshikien Garden and the Isuien Garden.  Here are some pictures of the Yoshikien Park.  (I didn’t have to pay to see this small garden).  And again, I apologize in advance for all of the pictures you are about to see!  I tried to pick the best shots for this post so believe it or not, I could have posted a lot more.

The next garden I went to is called the Isuien Garden.  I had to pay about eight Canadian dollars to see this larger garden, but it was worth it. 

Here is a picture of some workers pruning the trees.  I have no idea how some of them balanced the way they did to get their job done!  Wow!

Next, I went to visit Daibutsuden Temple.  It was huge!  I believe it is one of largest wooden temples in all of Japan (if not the biggest).  Inside was a gigantic Buddha.  Of course my camera just doesn't do this statue justice to what it looked like in person, but I guess you will get the idea.

Some people crawled through this narrow pillar.  I was going to try to crawl through it myself, but as you will see in the following picture, there was little girl who struggled to get through.  When I saw that, I decided not to try it.  I can see the headlines now, “Big, Clumsy, Crazy Canadian Tourist gets stuck in Sacred Pillar – Green Tea Soft Serve Ice Cream and Mochi is to blame!”

Now the next place I went to visit was Nigatsu-do Temple.  It was not originally part of my travelling plans to visit this place, but the tourist guide at the information desk at the Nara Train station recommended it.  It is supposed to have one of the best views of Nara…and it did have a nice view…after climbing a large hill and many stairs to get there.  Here are some pictures:

At the top was a snack shop.  I decided it was time to treat myself to a small snack since I had to go on a bit of a hike to get there.  (I’m sure the storeowner must make a killing in sales, because many people had the same idea I did about treating themselves at the end of this uphill hike).

While walking to this shrine, I walked by the Great Bell.  It was huge!  I haven’t seen such a big Japanese bell until that day!

Later, I walked towards the Wakamiya Jinja Shrine.  I later learnt that it was under construction for maintenance, but walking through that wooded area with all of the lanterns sure made it worth my while!  Check out the pictures:

At one point, you could pay around two Canadian dollars to go on this special hill called the Wakakusayama Hill.  I don’t know what was so special about this hill to have to pay to get on it.  I guess I will have to do some research later.  Here are some pictures of the hill.

I was going to pay, but then I saw the path I was walking on (it was full of beautiful autumn leaves) so I decided to continue the way I was going.

When I started to walk back towards the station, I checked out the different shops and bought a couple of Christmas gifts for my family.  I even found an old Japanese antique shop…I think they call them “Recycle Shops” here.

I also treated myself to a snack.  I mean, how could I watch the men swing their hammers and work so hard and not try the mochi?  (This is yet another reason why I need to get a gym membership in Japan…fast!)

When I was going home, I took a couple pictures of the Shinkansen in case you wanted to see what this famous “bullet train” looked like.  Here is the station: 

Here is the exterior of the train.

And finally, here is inside the train:

I even bought a Bento Box dinner to eat on my way home.  I am truly Japanese now!!

What a lovely trip.  I’ll keep you posted with my next adventure…which might be a simple post of what my Japanese “house” looks like.  (And by “house,” I mean my three room apartment-like space of living.  I love it!!)  So you’ve been warned; the next post will probably not be as epic or beautiful like my Nara and Kyoto posts, but I think some of you might find it interesting.  Until next time…