Trip to Nara.
2 weekends ago I went to Nara to see a festival called Yamayaki.
Its basically when the hills grass is burned off to mark the start of spring. Nara used to be the capital of Japan years back, and only 2 and a half hours to my house, so I really don't know why I didnt go before. It was nice to go away and see some more culture.
First off Laura, Jodie and I checked into our cheap and very lovely hostel before walking up the road to find some shrines.
This was one of the first shrines we came across, in Nara park.
Nara park is very famous for the fact that deer run around freely and you can buy special "senbei" (crackers) to feed them.
This was a little boy getting friendly with one of the deer.
We decided to get some senbei and try it ourselves.
But just as we got out the senbei we were approached by every deer in the vacinity.
They dont really leave you alone after you give them a senbei.....
We then headed off to see the Great Buddha which was situated on the other side of the park.
There was alot of deer along the way.
Even one with a suicide mission. It kept trying to eat the plastic bag on the inside. But kept failing.
This is the building that holds the Great Buddha....:O
It was HUGE! absolutly massive! Very worth the trip to see.
It was so impressive.
There was two smaller ranking statues on each side of it.
This hole is the same size as Buddhas nostril. If you fit through it then you get external happiness or something. Suffice to say, I didnt try my big foreigner bum through it.
Wooden statues. They were so impressive.
The other side of buddha.
This was outside. If you rubbed his foot and then your foot it was supposed to heal you from illness (or any other part of your body).
some of the many latterns everywhere.
The deers were adoreable.
But they were only after one thing.... the senbei!
Another shrine, famous for its lanterns.
beautiful.
In one of the rooms they were lit.
In the middle there was a holy tree.
View as the sun set.
After the sunset we went over to the hill to see the start of the yamayaki.
Of course we had a few beers while we watched.
Just before the hill was set alight an amazing fireworks display was set off. This year was the 1300 year anniversery so I think that they really upped it to commemorate it.
They even managed to put numbers in the sky.
Then the burning of the hill began....
The fire quickly spread... I was slightly worried about it coming back on us as we were so close, but there was hundreds of firemen around.
A band called Cenal were playing after the event too.. I would say they were good..but that would be a lie.
We met some crazy fan girls too..... it was a very odd day. They seemed surprised to see foriegners... even though Nara is quiet frankly...a place many foriegners would go to.
Some of the firefighters on hand to help out were disbanded.
After the festival finished, we ended up going for Viet namese food. I ended up burning my mouth badly from the spice, but the cocktails were amazing. Then we went to a club next door...well when I say club, I mean drinking place with a dance floor. Many drinks later and 4am in the morning we went home. Only to go to McDonalds before hand and find out they had no burgers! I mean...seriously!
The next day was spent at Mos burger and then to the oldest wooden building in the world. It was pretty impressive too! Nara is overall just stunning!
Kasuga Taisha shrine I think... We went to so many that day... Its hard to take note.
Everything was wooden and very well constructed.
unfortunatly you couldnt take many photos inside, but there was hundreds of national treasure. We had an extremely lovely and helpful tourguide to show us around. It was a really amazing experience.
This is one of the most famous Haiku's in Japan... about persimmons...I dont get it.. Neither did the tour guide.
To commemorate going. I had a shrine book made and signed. From now on for every shrine I'll go to, I'll get it signed and keep it. Lets see if I can get it all done!
Nara was a very beautiful place to visit. It was also so convienent!! Although the deer were slightly scary... don't go if your scared of deer!
Its basically when the hills grass is burned off to mark the start of spring. Nara used to be the capital of Japan years back, and only 2 and a half hours to my house, so I really don't know why I didnt go before. It was nice to go away and see some more culture.
First off Laura, Jodie and I checked into our cheap and very lovely hostel before walking up the road to find some shrines.
This was one of the first shrines we came across, in Nara park.
Nara park is very famous for the fact that deer run around freely and you can buy special "senbei" (crackers) to feed them.
This was a little boy getting friendly with one of the deer.
We decided to get some senbei and try it ourselves.
But just as we got out the senbei we were approached by every deer in the vacinity.
They dont really leave you alone after you give them a senbei.....
We then headed off to see the Great Buddha which was situated on the other side of the park.
There was alot of deer along the way.
Even one with a suicide mission. It kept trying to eat the plastic bag on the inside. But kept failing.
This is the building that holds the Great Buddha....:O
It was HUGE! absolutly massive! Very worth the trip to see.
It was so impressive.
There was two smaller ranking statues on each side of it.
This hole is the same size as Buddhas nostril. If you fit through it then you get external happiness or something. Suffice to say, I didnt try my big foreigner bum through it.
Wooden statues. They were so impressive.
The other side of buddha.
This was outside. If you rubbed his foot and then your foot it was supposed to heal you from illness (or any other part of your body).
some of the many latterns everywhere.
The deers were adoreable.
But they were only after one thing.... the senbei!
Another shrine, famous for its lanterns.
beautiful.
In one of the rooms they were lit.
In the middle there was a holy tree.
View as the sun set.
After the sunset we went over to the hill to see the start of the yamayaki.
Of course we had a few beers while we watched.
Just before the hill was set alight an amazing fireworks display was set off. This year was the 1300 year anniversery so I think that they really upped it to commemorate it.
They even managed to put numbers in the sky.
Then the burning of the hill began....
The fire quickly spread... I was slightly worried about it coming back on us as we were so close, but there was hundreds of firemen around.
A band called Cenal were playing after the event too.. I would say they were good..but that would be a lie.
We met some crazy fan girls too..... it was a very odd day. They seemed surprised to see foriegners... even though Nara is quiet frankly...a place many foriegners would go to.
Some of the firefighters on hand to help out were disbanded.
After the festival finished, we ended up going for Viet namese food. I ended up burning my mouth badly from the spice, but the cocktails were amazing. Then we went to a club next door...well when I say club, I mean drinking place with a dance floor. Many drinks later and 4am in the morning we went home. Only to go to McDonalds before hand and find out they had no burgers! I mean...seriously!
The next day was spent at Mos burger and then to the oldest wooden building in the world. It was pretty impressive too! Nara is overall just stunning!
Kasuga Taisha shrine I think... We went to so many that day... Its hard to take note.
Everything was wooden and very well constructed.
unfortunatly you couldnt take many photos inside, but there was hundreds of national treasure. We had an extremely lovely and helpful tourguide to show us around. It was a really amazing experience.
This is one of the most famous Haiku's in Japan... about persimmons...I dont get it.. Neither did the tour guide.
To commemorate going. I had a shrine book made and signed. From now on for every shrine I'll go to, I'll get it signed and keep it. Lets see if I can get it all done!
Nara was a very beautiful place to visit. It was also so convienent!! Although the deer were slightly scary... don't go if your scared of deer!