I decided to take my mom on a day-trip to Nara. It takes about an hour and half to get there from Nagoya by 2 trains. Nara was the first permanent capital of Japan, and today is one of the country's most rewarding sights! It's known as a treasure house of Buddhist art, with numerous Japanese Buddhist temples and Buddhist statues.
There are wild deer everywhere... and they are not scared of people! They are called shika and were originally regarded as divine messengers of Shinto gods. Today they enjoy the status of National Treasures. They roam the park and surrounding areas in search of handouts from tourists, often young children who have the misfortune to be carrying food! My mom bought deer biscuits to feed them - and they were very greedy! Butting her for more food!
Todai-ji. This is the temple that represents Nara.This enormous temple houses Japan's largest bronze statue, as well as many other Buddhist statues. It's worth the trip to this city, just to see this temple and giant Buddha!
Shrine along the path to the next temple. So many deer along the way.
We're not exactly sure what the name of this is, or what it is, but many of the temples have them. Maybe a giant gong?
A lady was selling baked Japanese sweet potatoes on the street. They were delicious!!! I love Japanese sweet potatoes - I usually slice them, grill them, and serve them with honey. But now I'll have to try baking them.
Kofuku-ji temple area. 5-storey pagoda, the second tallest in Japan.
After spending the day in Nara, we headed over to Kyoto to spend the night in a Japanese Ryokan, a traditional Japanese Inn. The room was a tatami room (straw mat flooring), with Japanese floor futons for bedding. It was a really fun experience!
There are wild deer everywhere... and they are not scared of people! They are called shika and were originally regarded as divine messengers of Shinto gods. Today they enjoy the status of National Treasures. They roam the park and surrounding areas in search of handouts from tourists, often young children who have the misfortune to be carrying food! My mom bought deer biscuits to feed them - and they were very greedy! Butting her for more food!
Todai-ji. This is the temple that represents Nara.This enormous temple houses Japan's largest bronze statue, as well as many other Buddhist statues. It's worth the trip to this city, just to see this temple and giant Buddha!
Shrine along the path to the next temple. So many deer along the way.
We're not exactly sure what the name of this is, or what it is, but many of the temples have them. Maybe a giant gong?
A lady was selling baked Japanese sweet potatoes on the street. They were delicious!!! I love Japanese sweet potatoes - I usually slice them, grill them, and serve them with honey. But now I'll have to try baking them.
Kofuku-ji temple area. 5-storey pagoda, the second tallest in Japan.
After spending the day in Nara, we headed over to Kyoto to spend the night in a Japanese Ryokan, a traditional Japanese Inn. The room was a tatami room (straw mat flooring), with Japanese floor futons for bedding. It was a really fun experience!
Sounds wonderful!
ReplyDeleteFUN - looks amazing - love all the history there
ReplyDeleteIf you are interested in historical place in Japan, I highly recommend to visit Nikko(日光), where is north of Tokyo. It's registered as World Heritage, very beautiful. And staty in Oku-Nikko（奥日光）, nice hot-spring(onsen 温泉）, lake, mountains, gorge and everything wild nature.
ReplyDeleteyes , giant gong. and those i think are yams not potatoes.
ReplyDelete