A Day in Nara

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We had a nice day trip from Kyoto to Nara to see the Todaiji Temple and the deers that casually roam around the city. We had a great time. Our first stop was the 100 Yen store to pick up some "healthy" snacks for the deer. We were not too sure what they would like so we got some peanuts and some chips. Well... the peanuts sure did the trick. When we got closer to the parks in Nara we ran into more and more deer. We loved feeding them right out of our hands. Erin was quite fond on these two that had a hard time walking and would hobble over slowely to get some food. We spent a couple of hours feeding, taking pictures, and petting the deer. It is really neet to be able to get up close with the wild animals (ok...they cant be too wild). If they knew you had food, they would be all over you and would even try to eat through your clothes to get to the good stuff. Oh...and you had to keep your map tucked away or it would be eated as well.

We were told that the deer are somewhat sacred in Nara and if you were to kill one, it would be jail time (luckily Erin wasnt driving there =). There were thousands of deer throughout the city, every where we looked they were there (more so in the parks). We went to the Todaiji Temple to see the worlds largest wooden Buddha and wooden building. They were amazing! We were mesmerized with how something of that size and intricacy could even be built in that time period let alone today. The Buddha seemed large from the front, but then when you walk around it, it the true size is revealed...massive.

It was raining all day, but we still had a great day walking around with our $2.98 umbrellas. Oh...and ended our day with a nice Japanese dish and a good old McFlurry for dessert (definitely not on par with the ones from Canada).

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Photos

So cute!!!
We could not believe how friendly and tame the deer were. And they were so freakin cute!

Deer attacking Erin
If you had food...the deer knew about it and they would attempt to eat through your clothes to get to the food! Luckily we had our umbrellas which Trevor would use as a shield to get them away from us...Lol.

Mmmmm...what do I want to eat...
Cameron...I saved him from the vicious deer for you =)

Todaiji Temple
This one building was called Daibutsu-den. It is the worlds largest wooden building. When this building was rebuild in 1709 after burning down, it was only build to 2/3rd of its original size.

Todaiji Temple
Worlds largest wooden Buddha in the worlds largest wooden building.

Raining all day...
It was a rainy day, but still hot and humid. We managed to stay dry with our 298 Yen umbrellas.

McDonalds in Japan
We have decided we are going to make one trip to McDonalds in every country we go to (as long as they have one). It is actually quite interesting to see the different meals they offer. What does Trevor get??? A Big Mac and it tasted no different as Trevor says "still the most delicious burger". I tried a spicy chicken burger which was quite good. We got a blizzard and were disappointed when our cups were only 2/3 of the way full (what a rip off)...we may write into McDonalds about our experiences =)