Tuesday 4 July
Day 15
Finally a decent nights sleep for Paul, after we requested 2 contour pillows for him to stack. I had managed to place the curtains far enough behind the cupboard to ensure there was no light, so my usual gentle wake up at six, didn’t occur and instead I was woken by Paul at 7, when he turned the light on. Now I was awake. He got the beroccas going and the green tea, before we were into breakfast and getting ready for our day out.
We caught the loop train to Tennoji Station and were early for the 9am to Nara, so jumped on the train waiting at the platform. We realised after, that this was the local train and it would not be a quick journey. Fortunately for us, we stopped at a station further along and the rapid service pulled in shortly after, so we jumped from ours to this one and were able to make Nara by 930. It was a far more comfortable and cool journey.
We grabbed a quick bite at the station and began walking up the Main Street. Plenty of religious architecture could be seen, as we walked, which made it fairly easy to navigate. We checked out Saraswati-Ike, a small temple on a lake. There were a couple of turtles on a log that took our attention and as we found the temple, two deer came into view. We would see hundreds more before leaving.
We walked a large staircase. My quads were screaming, after yesterday’s marathon stair climb. These stairs led to Kofukuji Temple. Here we saw a 5 story pagoda, Central Golden Hall and the Southern Round Hall. And more deer.
Back on the main strip, we walked to Nara Park, passing the National Museum along the way. Here we found more deer, many harassing unsuspecting tourists. There was a vendor selling deer crackers for 200yen, so I bought a stack of about 8 wafers and was immediately surrounded by greedy deer. I broke up 1 biscuit, which is about 8cm in diameter, and fed little bits to 4 of them.
We continued through the Park, before following the sign to Todaiji Temple. There were so many deer to give attention to. They were just so cute and very friendly. Of course most were looking for food. I could easily approach, ask if they wanted some of my biscuit and they would nod in appreciation and then I could feed them, with them gently removing the cracker from my fingers. Unlike some of the other tourists around us, who had their stack of crackers in their hand and in full view and would be wildly running and screaming from a trailing line of deer. It was hilarious.
We followed the deer lined street on to Todaiji (“Great Eastern Temple") This is one of Japan's most famous and historically significant temples and a landmark of Nara. The temple was constructed in 752 as the head temple of all provincial Buddhist Temples of Japan and grew so powerful that the capital was moved away from Nara in 784 in order to lower the temple's influence on government affairs.
Along the approach to Todaiji stands the Nandaimon Gate, a large wooden gate watched over by two fierce looking statues. Representing the Nio Guardian Kings, the statues are designated national treasures together with the gate itself.
Until recently, Todaiji's main hall, the Daibutsuden (Big Buddha Hall), held the record as the world's largest wooden building, despite the fact that the present reconstruction of 1692 is only two thirds of the original temple hall's size. The massive building houses one of Japan's largest bronze statues of Buddha (Daibutsu). The 15 meters tall, seated Buddha represents Vairocana and is flanked by two Bodhisattvas.
We took in the immense size of these statues, completing a full circle of the hall. At one point there is a post with a hole carved through it’ base. This is known as the the Buddha’s nostril, it is said to be the same size as the statue's nostril. It is believed that those who can pass through the hole will be granted good health and protection from bad luck. We captured a photo of two children passing through the hole. The hole is about 37 by 30 centimetres wide and 110 centimetres deep.
With the hall complete, we found a quieter path to follow, before making our way back to the park to feed more gorgeous deer. I made the crackers last for a fair while, sharing them around as we made our way back into the town in search of refreshments and lunch. We walked a lively mall, with Paul spotting Yamato Brewery, so we sought refuge from the increasing temperature, enjoying a pizza and drinks.
Happily rested and fed, we decided to locate Nara Brewing. It was about 1.5km away, so not too far. We wandered through a covered shopping street before reaching a road with many tourists gathered at a window. They were watching mochi pounding. Unfortunately they were all peeling away, as we arrived. We however, were able to buy a mochi to try. If you want to know more you can see it here; https://en.japantravel.com/nara/mochi-pounding-at-nakatanidou/20313
We continued on our trip to Nara Brewing, thankfully it was well away from the crowds and Google had us walking some interesting back streets and passed lots of homes. That is one thing about looking for breweries, we always end up taking in interesting spots, that you would otherwise miss. They are never on the tourist maps.
Nara Brewery, is tucked away in a housing estate. At first we thought we were being taken on a wild goose chase, but sure enough a very small bar was located on the local street. As we sidled up alongside, we could see a film crew inside. We were welcomed in and Paul got reading the beer list. I was interested in what was happening. Turns out they were filming a famous Japanese calligraphy artist Ouka_yokai. She was creating a piece of art for the TV piece. It was very interesting and she was happy for us to take pictures and video, as she created.
We were happy to hang in the bar and stay cool and hydrated. We were kind of a captured audience, not being able to leave until it was wrapped up. Once that happened, we used google once again to navigate back to the train station. We passed a traditional home that was open to visitors, so we stopped to have a look inside. I was surprised how long the building was. There were many rooms separated by hanging blinds and the wooden floors were covered in tatami mats, that were surprisingly spongy to walk on.
We returned to the tiny back roads, continuing to weave our way passed the houses and the occasional store; clothing, antiques, shoes and restaurants. Finally we popped out at the train station once again and made our way to the platform. The train was running behind schedule, so it didn’t leave until 315pm, but it was a direct through to Osaka, so not so bad.
Paul snoozed and I watched the world go by and 50min later we were back at our home station and happy to return to our room for some rest and relaxation. My legs were thankful I was off them, as they were starting to seize up each time I moved.
We had made ourselves comfy in the bed, both feeling quite bodily tired, after 2 big sight seeing days. We happily stayed there for a couple of hours, making up our own commentary for the Japanese tv, but when 7pm rolled around we figured we should eat something. We did a lap of the block around our hotel, but nothing really stood out. We wandered across to the underground shopping malls, where plenty of restaurants were housed and finally found one that looked appealing and didn’t allow smoking. We only ordered light, ate and then returned for a Lawson Station dessert and an early bed.
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