Nara is an easy train ride from Kyoto and was on our ‘must visit’ list so away we were at the crack of dawn again ready for another day of culture and beauty.
Arriving at the JR Station in Nara leaves you at a great location. You can walk up Sanjo Dori, and pass Nakatanidou, a mochi (japanese rice cake) shop. Now, this is a mochi shop with a difference as they display their mochi-pounding process for all to see and what a show it is! As soon as the mound of green glutinous rice is thrown into the giant mortar, the workers are ready with their hammer shaped pestles to pound with all their might!! They shout with each swing, which I can only guess is to help them keep in time, and hammer the mixture into soft mochi which is then molded into small pieces, filled with red bean paste and dusted with kinako (roasted soybean flour) and served (still warm from the pounding) to eager onlookers and passers-by. This shop is not to be missed!
After the buzz of Nakatanidou, its not a far walk to the heart of Nara Park and their famous deer – hundreds of them! They roam freely and clearly enjoy being fed by tourists as the food is being sold in bucket loads. Due to the constant feeding, these deer are quite confident and will have their head in your pocket if they think there might be an ounce of a crumb in there! Despite their confidence when it comes to food, they are beautiful animals and its just really pleasant to walk around a beautiful park with deer wandering around. Hours could be spent here!
After the excitement of a deer poking its head into Paul’s pocket, we opted to visit Todaiji, (Great Eastern Temple) which is home to the Daibutsuden (Big Buddha Hall). It is the largest wooden building in the world and houses a 49ft bronze Buddha statue which adds to the temple’s importance and popularity.
As Nara was Japan’s first permanent capital, you can understand why there is an abundance of temples and shrines all waiting to be visited. Horyuji Temple, Kasuga Tasiha Shinto shrine, Toshodaiji Temple, Yakushiji Temple and Kofukuji Temple are some of the more well known tourist hotspots but to appreciate them all fully, you would need at least a couple of days here. We visited as many as we could as well as a walk through the primeval forest – very cool!
We walked for miles in Nara so needless to say we got a train back to Kyoto in desperate need of food and a beer. Thank goodness for katsu curry and the ability to order everything from a machine. No social interaction necessary after another fantastic day in Japan!
Follow the photos link and have a look at our Nara album 😀