Day 7 - Friday 3 April - Nara

The plan was for a relaxed start and a 9:30 exit from the hotel. Except the slow starters held things up.. Hrmmm :)

Managed to figure out the Osaka train system and ended up on the right train to Nara. We didn't have too much of a plan for the day, so did a lot of wandering between temples and shrines. It was all nice enough and all the deer were exceptionally cool - I even shelled out 300 yen to get a little bundle of "deer cakes" - like a cross between pancakes and cookies - to feed them. My cousins had told us about the free Goodwill tours and I'd been meaning to book one, but suddenly the time had come and we hadn't done it :(  So it meant we didn't know much about the significance of the places we were looking at, and so therefore probably didn't get as much out of the day as we could have :(

Stu playing a bongo drum machine in Sega World
Stu playing a drum machine in Sega World

Eastern Golden Hall and Five Story Pagoda of Kofukuji
Eastern Golden Hall and Five Story Pagoda of Kofukuji

Deer getting up close and personal
Deer getting up close and personal 

Feeding a deer in front of the Five Story Pagoda
Feeding a deer in front of the Five Story Pagoda
Photo by Andrew 

Deer chasing a girl
Deer chasing a girl
Photo by Stu 

Pair of deer
Pair of deer 

Dude on the way to Todaiji
Dude on the way to Todaiji 

Nandaimon Gate
Nandaimon Gate 

Entrance gate and top of Todaiji
Entrance gate and top of Todaiji 

Feeding deer
I was impressed with this photo because of its timing.
He managed to get the deer to rear up at the exact moment
there was a break in the massive crowds along this path
(see above photo) 

Todaiji Temple
Todaiji Temple
World's largest wooden building 

Daibutsu - Japan's largest bronze Buddha
Daibutsu - Japan's largest bronze Buddha 

Water bucket
I pondered the reasoning behind a solitary bucket
of water at the side of the temple 

Inside Todaiji Temple
Inside Todaiji Temple
Photo by Natto 

No group photos
We couldn't resist a group photo in front of the "No Group Photos" sign
Photo by Stu 

Natty and Sandra at lunch in Nara
Natty and Sandra at lunch in Nara
This was a great meal, one of the better and more authentic meals we
had in Japan (and Natto and Andrew missed out cause they didn't want to try it!)
 

Lanterns in Kasuga Taisha
Lanterns in Kasuga Taisha 

Kasuga Taisha
Kasuga Taisha 

Lanterns in Kasuga Taisha
Lanterns in Kasuga Taisha

We decided to stop by Horyuji even though the grounds were going to be shut in the hopes of at least seeing it. Well we managed to see it with about thirty seconds to spare - they were just locking up the grounds as we got there. So we managed to get a couple of photos from a distance. Also stopped in at a local supermarket on the way back to pick up some supplies.

Horyuji Temple
Horyuji Temple - built in the 7th century - the world's oldest wooden buildings

And then finally back to the hotel. Where we collapsed in a heap, and I drank a few beers :)

Steps walked today: 14790
Photos taken by me: 278
Photos taken by Stu: 212