Blogs from Nara, Japan, Asia - page 6

Today we spent the day in Nara, It was a really long train ride out there. But once we got there it was beautiful. First we went to Todai-ji Temple, it is the largest wooden structure in the WORLD! Even thou it is only two thirds of the original size due to earth quakes it is still the largest wooden structure ever. Inside this temple is the Daibutsu of Todai-Ji Temple. This is the "largest" bronze Buddha ever built. Thou some places in china say there bronze Buddha's are bigger. But do not be mistaken this is not the biggest one, just the largest bronze one, so they say. Standing next to the Daibutsu was awe inspiring, the sheer size of it was very impressive. There is a whole in the back of the temple in ... read more

one hour trip from kyoto by train. we visited the city of nara with its huge temple, the tallest buddha statue in japan, and its lovely tame deer which roam freely in town and in its parks.... read more

Today we made a major discovery: a real French bakery about three blocks away from our ryokan. It's called Rauk and if you are ever in Kyoto, even for just a few hours, you must go find it. At 8:48am, with pastries and coffee in hand, we boarded a train for Nara, a small but historically very significant town about 25 miles away. It's the perfect day trip from Kyoto. (alas, the bullet train does not run from Kyoto to Nara and so we took the local train - the local, local train took over an hour to get us there but the "rapid" train took only 45 minutes on the way back). The reason that Nara is so important is that it was the first real capital of Japan, back in 710, and remained the ... read more

Nara, the ancient capital city of Japan, has many world heritage sites. I've visited most of the places on my first visit here three years ago. This time I came mainly to see the lights festival happening during O-bon week. Ben and I took a day trip to Nara at noon and wondered around the city until darkness arrived. Then more than 10,000 candles started to light up the whole place, giving it a festive and surreal atmosphere. I'll stop now and let the photos speak for me. Oh, don't forget to check out the photos on page 2 there are more night shots. Off to Kyoto today for O-bon festival. Loving Kansai! ^^... read more

Following our adventure in Hiroshima, we made our way west to the ancient city of Nara, Japan's first capital. This, as I said is a very ancient city, home to the world's oldest wooden standing structure. The city is home to many UNESCO World Heritage Sites, many including the temples and shrines. The first day in Nara was a free day for us to explore and wreak havoc (just kidding, lol). Anyways, we all split up and made our way through the city, taking in the amazing and historically rich sites that Japan is known for. Joe and I headed towards Nara Park, where, again, hundreds of deer live harmoniously with people. After nearly 5 miles of walking and roaming, we arrived at the park. Of course, there were a lot of deer just chillin'. We ... read more