Mike and Buddha in Nara!

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Well got the train to Nara with no hitches at all we must be getting good at this and we even got off at the right stop. We thought Kyoto had a lot of history and also very typical Japanese but hey ho, it has nothing on Nara.

Mind you we arrived at Nara train station and looked at the map and spoke to the lady in the tourist information centre and she said it is a 15 minute walk to where we are staying. We arrived in the hotest time of the day and guess what Mike wants to walk - WHAT I exclaim, are you sure - it is hot out there i.e. 90 degrees - yes he exclaims I want to feel like a real back packer. Well that came to haunt him as he sweats buckets. Anyway to his credit we found the place straight away without any hitches.

We had decided this time to move away from hotels (got my way at last with Mike) and we are now staying tonight in a Ryokan. A Ryokan is a typical Japanese house where you sleep on futons (not like the futons in IKEA which are wooden with a mattress on) these are thin mattresses on a grass matting. Not sure he is going to like me in the morning.

We went for a walk and found a couple of pergoda's and also a gaming/gambling house. On entering the gambling house, my god you could not hear anything it was mayhem. I think the Japanese love to gamble!

As soon as we get in to our accommodation Mike immediately puts the TV on - well we are now so far outside Tokyo that there is no English channels at all and he is now watching Sumo wrestling whilst on the futon reading a book on Buddha teachings - I am starting to get worried at this stage.

I am not sure we are going to be able to find somewhere to eat tonight where we do not sit on cushions on the floor. For two old biddies getting sat down on the floor is ok but hey ho how the hell are we going to get up. I think I might get the fire brigade number before we go out to eat tonight as we may need a hoist. Anyway must not forget to keep my glasses by my side tonight as I don't think losing them two nights running will go down well with sir.

A bit of history for you I have just found out that Nara was once the capital of Japan, mind you that was in the 7th century - are you not impressed, I am also learning whilst on this trip.

We are going on a walking tour tomorrow to see the Great Buddha so Mike should be able to put some of his Buddha teachings to good use, ha ha

Hope everyone is ok.

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Photos

Matsumae Ryokan
Mike outside our pad for tonight - they have a curfew we must be back before 10 tonight!

Room 205
Our room - not sure I am going to be liked in the morning after sleeping on the floor, ha ha.

Gambling/Gaming Hall
What a sight and noise - you cannot hear anything but metal balls falling out of the machines - Japanese love gambling! This was one of 30 lanes.

Comments

[sylv]

hope your sleep was good. xxx