Blogs from Nara, Nara, Japan, Asia - page 3

19thMarch – Kobe Kobe lies between deep blue waters of Osaka Bay and the tree clad hills on Honshu. In 1995 a devastating earthquake (7.3 Richter) killed over 6000 people and made 300,000 homeless. It became known as the Great Hanshin Earthquake because as well as destroying the city’s infrastructure it caused the collapse of the elevated section of the Hanshin highway. Some damage is still visible, and as part of the regeneration several memorial parks have been created. Kobe is home to the famous ‘Kobe beef’ , the animal is massaged every day and fed beer, it is also said that they are supported so that their feet do not touch the ground giving a more marbled effect on the beef!!! Our tour was another long one (11 hours) and was entitled ‘Ancient Japan’ The ... read more

Second little stop of our Japanese adventure. Not that far from Kyoto, but a first for me. We travel light for these few days, so we went on the train direct to Nara. It takes only an hour from the Westin in Kyoto. So after walking all morning long in Kyoto, we spent the all afternoon discovering Nara....and walking even more... An afternoon for Nara is more than enough, but hey, this place is pretty amazing too. First, you have the little deers. The first three we saw were fun...than we realized, they don't have few of them, but rather hundreds, or perhaps even thousands of them around the parks and forests of Nara. To the point that these guys have solid priority even on the dogs...pretty cute! I forget to take a picture of the ... read more

Friday’s day trip was Nara. During the 8th century, Nara was the capital of Japan and as such, there was some intense temple building happening at the time. Even after it was no longer the capital, Nara was still an important religious centre. Because of this, there are some great temples and shrines to see. And unlike Kyoto, most of them are right near each other within a large park. The train trip took about 50 minutes. You can do it quicker if you take the private Kintetsu line, but my rail pass doesn’t cover that. The Kintetsu station is also closer to the temples, but it wasn’t a big deal. There were a lot more tourists (Japanese and westerners) because Nara is a premier attraction in Japan. Thankfully it wasn’t as hot as previous days ... read more

Nukuinpa muuten kuin vauva tatamille levitellyllä patjallani. Heräsin siis virkeenä, mutta kuten arvata saattaa, niin se kerroksen ainoa suihku räpsähti varatuksi juuri noin 20 sekuntia ennen kuin ehdin ovenripaan omasta huoneestani. Suihkuttelija oli onneksi suht pikainen, mutta kun juuri hänen lopetellessaan jo avasin oman huoneeni oven, niin englantia hyvin puhuva nuori nainen sanoi, että oli käynyt kylmässä suihkussa, kun ei osannut säätää seinässä olevasta paneelista lämpöjuttuja ollenkaan päälle. Hän oli kuitenkin niin ystävällinen, että lupasi käydä alakerrassa kyselemässä eikä mun tarvinnut sinne lähteä. Apu löytyi, ja minä pääsin kyllä ihan lämpöseen. Kiittelin mimmiä melkein yhtä lämpösesti kuin suihkukin oli, mutta ei se ehkä häntä siinä enää kovasti lämmittänyt. No mutta, meni joka tapauksessa vähän venyvämmäksi lähtö kuin suunnittelin, ja venyipä vielä pidemmäksi, kun maj... read more

We left Kyoto in the morning and arrived at Nara pretty quickly. Many people come here as a day trip from Kyoto and walking out of the station my immediate thoughts were that we probably should have done that too. The surrounding area reminded me of Spencer Street Station in 1990 - pretty ordinary. Even the Lonely Planet edition of 1995 reckons it is an uninspiring town on first appearance. Once we walked a couple of blocks, however, I relaxed. Leaving our bags at the guesthouse (nice word for hostel) we set off on the trek around Nara's world heritage listed sites. And they didn't disappoint. Absolutely magnificent. Eleanor especially loved the wild deer roaming around. At one shrine we were accosted by a group of school children on excursion. They had a task where they ... read more