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Published: January 10th 2008
Deer in Nara
The deer in Nara are uncharacteristically unshy of humans.In three days I've come into peril by two kinds of animals. More on that in a couple of paragraphs. First off, let me just mention I have found the greatest internet cafe ever. If a nerd died and went to heaven, this would be it. If you're ever in Kyoto, it's called the Fujiyama cafe. Each person has their own separate (and comfortable!) cubicle, and the floors outside the cubicles have glass bottoms with zen rock gardens on the bottom! As I previously mentioned, ice cream and soda is free here, and there is a menu if you want to order solid food. I will never find a nicer internet cafe as long as I live. But I digress.
With aćJapan rail pass, I can travel on any Japan Rail train (except Nozomi, the fastest type of bullet train). This has allowed me to take side trips outside of Kyoto at no extra cost. Yesterday, I started off in Kyoto by visiting the Temple of the Golden Pavilion. You can get through it in 15 minutes, but the view is amazing, as the temple is covered in solid gold leaf.
After this, I headed out of town to
Osaka, Japan's third largest city (after Tokyo and Yokohama). I visited Osaka Castle, which is actually a concrete replica of the original (destroyed by war) but wonderful nonetheless. I then went through Osaka's stores and video arcades. Japan's video arcades are top-class. Arcade culture is a bit different here through. Video arcades in Japan are for people of all ages, not just children, and smoking is allowed in them (in fact, smoking is allowed almost everywhere in Japan, even in some train cars). I finished the night by visiting the amazing Umeda Sky Building, which offers great views of Osaka (although the top roof was closed, the lower observatory was open and was great anyway).
Today, I started off again by visiting something here in Kyoto, this time Kiyomizu-dera, a temple on a mountainside (Kyoto is surrounded by mountains, making for great views both of them and from them). Some sort of movie or television show was being filmed there, but it didn't interrupt my visit.
I then headed out to Nara, a small town which was Japan's first capital (from the 600s to 800s, which was then followed by Kyoto for 1000 years and finally Tokyo in
Himeji Castle
The original castle was 500 years old, but this is a concrete reconstruction. Not that you can easily tell. the 1800s). Nara's main attraction is the Daibatsu-den, the world's largest wooden structure. Inside is a giant wooden statue of Buddha, so large I made sure I got people inside my pictures just so its incredible size could be recognized in photo form. Nara is also home to many deer, which unlike regular deer, have grown accustomed to humans and approach them rather than run away from them, making for great photo ops. I bought some deer crackers, which turned out to be a risky move. Turns out, deer are docile until you present them with food. Within seconds of the saleslady handing me the deer food, four or five deer ambushed me, biting and tugging at my coat until I quickly relinquished all the crackers to them. At least the monkeys didn't bite my clothing.
I headed back to Kyoto in time to visit the Temple of the Silver Pavilion (Ginkaku-ji). Unlike the Golden one, this one is not silver-coated (it was supposed to be when it was built, hence the name) but it is still impressive because of the gardens and mountainside surrounding it, and more great views of Kyoto. I then returned to paradise, namely this
Osaka at Night
From the floating garden observatory of the Umeda Sky Building. internet cafe. This is more of a relaxation stop than an update stop for me!
Tomorrow I will be visiting Himeji Castle, a bit further from Kyoto than Nara or Osaka but home to one of Japan's finest castles. This will be followed by two days in Hiroshima, then I am headed to Thailand.
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