decided to use today to make a day trip to nara, which is just southeast of kyoto, and is chock full of temples, shrines and other cultural highlights. grabbed a quick breakfast in our kitchen and chatted a bit with a couple from new zealand who were in japan visiting their son while he studied abroad in tokyo. we were able to give them some pointers on kyoto, and they traded tips for tokyo. made a quick stop at the reception to book our reservations for the kimono dress up and tea ceremony. for only Y1000 each, it was a good deal and would at least give us some stories to tell!
got a train down to nara in about 45 mins and began our walking tour that was outlined in LP. funny, saw another girl just a few feet ahead of us with her nose in her LP ha, and throughout the day saw a few more people following the same tour. ah, guidebooks. the tour was about 5k, but didn't feel remotely that long b/c there were so many stops along the way to break it up. with a couple quick stops in convenience stores looking for more flavored kit kats, we were on our way. and talk about being off to a great start - first up was isui-en, which is supposedly nara's finest garden. unfortunately for us, it was closed for the holidays. garden: fail. onward.
headed towards nara-koen park and todai-ji, but took a look first at nandai-mon, which is the massive main gate of the temple. flanked on either side were huge nio guardians that (per LP) are 2 of the finest wooden statues in all of japan if not the world. they were indeed impressive. and also massive (notice the size theme here). behind the gate seemed to be a bustling alley of shops, so we climbed over the threshold and went to explore. we were quickly engulfed in a sea of deer. and we thought miyajima was bad! i've never seen so many deer in one place in my life. turns out deer are considered sacred animals and messengers of the gods, as well as national treasures of japan haha. it soon felt perfectly normal to be walking amongst the deer, like it was something that everyone does every day. did some browsing in the shops and managed to find a sake set for myself. then grabbed a quick bite to eat b/c wasn't sure how many options there would be once we really got into our walk.
back across the gate, headed to todai-ji temple, which for me was the highlight of the day. on the grounds stands the daibutsu-den hall (the largest wooden building in the world) which houses the daibutsu (great cosmic buddha - one of the largest bronze figures in the world). it was stunning. i could have looked at it four hours, trying to notice all the little details that make it such a work of art.
unfortunately time did not allow for it, so circled the buddha to glance at the other statues and art, and eventually came across this tall wooden pole. it has a hole in its base, exactly the size of one of the great buddhas nostrils, and legend has it that if you can squeeze through it, you will be ensured enlightenment. it's tiny, so only kids were really attempting it. but i must admit - guaranteed enlightenment sounded pretty good to me, and had there not been so many people milling about, i would have totally tried it. alas, i was too scared i'd get stuck, so no enlightenment for me. at least not today =)
after one last look at the buddha, headed back out on our tour. walked through the 'incredibly atmospheric stretch' which, while nice, was a bit of an exaggeration on LPs part. found our way to nigatsu-do hall and took in the views. walked by sangatsu-do hall but didn't enter b/c didn't feel like paying the fee. next was tamukeyama-hachimangu shrine, which LP describes as 'gaudy' but to be honest - i've seen way worse. walked by wakakusa-yama mountain and soon were surrounded by hundreds of lanterns as we approached kasuga taisha shrine. the shrine was pretty average, but the lanterns made it memorable. as did the italian guy yelling "americano! this way! americano!!" we assumed he was talking to us, but we were not quite sure why. maybe he thought we were lost, despite the fact there was only one way to go. stopped next at wakamiyajinja shrine and picked up some green tea ice cream, which we had to cleverly hide from the deer, before heading back towards town.
our last stop on the tour was kofuku-ji temple. i thought the 5 story pagoda was the prettiest building. we were able to rest here for a while (thankfully my blisters were behaving) and then entered the national treasure hall. not sure if it was fully worth the Y500, but the standing senju-kannon (lord of compassion, goddess of mercy) statue was an incredible site to see.
back to nara station to catch a train back to kyoto and finish our sight-seeing day at fushimi-inari taisha, a shrine originally dedicated to the gods of rice and sake. food and drink - what more could you want?! as the importance of agriculture declined though, the foods were replaced to ensure prosperity in business. the shrine was full of fox statues, which like deer are considered sacred animals (messengers of inari, god of rice. err, business). the coolest part was the thousands of torii (archways) leading up the hill to the inner shrine.
grabbed a bite to eat and chilled back at the guesthouse for a while before it was time for our evening of playing dress up at a tea ceremony. which entirely needs it's own entry in this blog...
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