Nara
First of all, sorry for not updating in so long. Mike and I were in Kyoto all of this week, so I had almost no internet access. Sumimasen for that.
Before Mike and I went to Kyoto on Monday, we took a day trip on the train to Nara. Nara is a beautiful city, smaller than Kishiwada. Tame deer wander the central parks in Nara- mostly they keep to themselves, only coming up to you to insistently bump and nudge you if you have food. They make quiet creaking and squeaking noises, like doors opening, which was disorienting at first. And they are free to just walk out into the middle of the street, where they stop traffic! Mike and I bought packs of wafers meant to feed the deer from street vendors. Here's a quick video I took of Mike feeding them. They are VERY enthusiastic about visitors with food. We wondered- could a park like Nara Park with the tame deer ever exist in the US? I feel like people would bother the deer too much, let their children try to ride them, feed them the wrong things, etc. Nara Park was peaceful and open and nothing like the closest US analog to it- the pent-in and smelly petting zoo. Your thoughts?
I also saw my first temple in Nara- it surprised me because of how seamlessly incorporated it was into the city. We turned a regular street corner and then saw a beautiful orange and green pagoda. I won't go too much into detail about temples in this entry, since the Kyoto entries will be full of pictures of them.
Mike at train station:
Small pagoda at Kufuku-ji:
Five story pagoda at Kufuku-ji:
Mike and I making friends at Nara park:
At Todaiji temple. The largest Buddha statue in Japan is at Todaiji, but we slept in and arrived too late in the day to see it. Perhaps next time...
Before Mike and I went to Kyoto on Monday, we took a day trip on the train to Nara. Nara is a beautiful city, smaller than Kishiwada. Tame deer wander the central parks in Nara- mostly they keep to themselves, only coming up to you to insistently bump and nudge you if you have food. They make quiet creaking and squeaking noises, like doors opening, which was disorienting at first. And they are free to just walk out into the middle of the street, where they stop traffic! Mike and I bought packs of wafers meant to feed the deer from street vendors. Here's a quick video I took of Mike feeding them. They are VERY enthusiastic about visitors with food. We wondered- could a park like Nara Park with the tame deer ever exist in the US? I feel like people would bother the deer too much, let their children try to ride them, feed them the wrong things, etc. Nara Park was peaceful and open and nothing like the closest US analog to it- the pent-in and smelly petting zoo. Your thoughts?
I also saw my first temple in Nara- it surprised me because of how seamlessly incorporated it was into the city. We turned a regular street corner and then saw a beautiful orange and green pagoda. I won't go too much into detail about temples in this entry, since the Kyoto entries will be full of pictures of them.
Mike at train station:
Small pagoda at Kufuku-ji:
Five story pagoda at Kufuku-ji:
Mike and I making friends at Nara park:
At Todaiji temple. The largest Buddha statue in Japan is at Todaiji, but we slept in and arrived too late in the day to see it. Perhaps next time...