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Published: February 27th 2009
Yesterday, following everyone's advice, we got the train to Nara, which is about 45 minutes away from Kyoto. Its main attractions include the world's largest wooden building, which houses the world's largest enclosed Buddha, and a lot (and I mean A LOT) of deer. You think deer are cute? You watch films like 'Bambi' and think that they're such sweet, innocent, wide-eyed animals? You're wrong.
I suffered from this misconception also, but after five minutes in Nara, I knew the truth. They linger in packs outside shops, like Mancunian teenagers waiting for an adult to go in and buy them beer, and as soon as they see money being exchanged for deer food, they pounce. You can't escape them. They surround you, some even wait in ambush, and they won't let you go until all of the food is gone. At first, I foolishly took responsibility for the food, but within seconds I had flung it over to Mark and fled. I was shouting "Just give them the food, Mark! Give it to them and run!" One, in particular, was a feisty little devil; it kept biting Mark's backside! You may think that we were wimps but we weren't the
only ones - there were panicking tourists running in every direction, mothers protecting their children, old couples huddling on the ground in terror, etc etc. Ok, so maybe it wasn't quite that bad, but close enough!
Once the food was gone, though, we were safe. Safe to explore the temples and shrines scattered across the hillside in peace. Although, every now and then, we'd see a deer sneaking behind a tree, watching us from the shadows with a sinister glint in its eyes. But as we headed away from the main area, leaving the throngs of tourists behind, the deer became less and less monstrous. We hiked up Mount Wakakusa-yama and, by the time we'd reached the top, the deer were back to their usual, Bambi-ish selves. The peak was beautiful; the sun had just come out and we got some fantastic views. And after we'd sat there for a while, the deer came tentatively out into the sunshine and nibbled happily on the grass (as deer are meant to!)
Today we went to Fushimiinari-taisya Shrine, at which you wind your way through the forest going through dozens of torii tunnels. The atmosphere was incredibly mysterious, especially as
there was hardly anyone there but us, and the forest was dark and silent. The place is mainly dedicated to the fox, the messenger of the god Inari, but it also, on a creepier note, is thought capable of possessing humans, going through the fingernails! There were mazes of shrines and graveyards, all accompanied by moss-covered statues of foxes, looking very sinister beneath the heavy, grey sky. We got lost more than once amongst the graves, and the further into the mazes we went, the darker the forest became, and the more menacing the fox statues felt. But, like Nara, we got out of there alive!
Today was our last day in Kyoto, and we're really sad to be leaving, but I think we've seen everything we really wanted to see. Off to Tokyo next, and with Tokyo comes my birthday, just in case anybody had forgotten 😊
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Mum
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Oh Deer!
Excuse me while I wipe my eyes - I struggled to read to the end without mopping up tears of laughter - the image of Mark being bitten by a deer! I really wish I had been there - even made John forget his gout for a few minutes and have a good laugh. The fox graves do look a bit spooky - and of course thank you for the picture of the House of Wood!! - is that just for me? Ceri - Happy Birthday - may not have chance to write tomorrow! Whats a Torii tunnel - why and whats it made of? Love Mumxxxx