Blogs from Nara, Nara, Japan, Asia - page 6

Old news? Never. Nara is a beautiful area to walk through, with deer nuzzling you for food - and on occasion chasing you down the street. I had deer's noses poking into my pockets for cookies, and one of them bit me on the bum! I took Danilo to see the Daibutsu (great Buddha) at Todai-ji (The worlds largest wooden building). It is a suitably impressive place, and some of the buildings you pass (like the 7- storey pagoda) look like evil hide-outs for the villians of yore. This is quite strange considering they are actually buildings belonging to Japan's first school of buddhism. My brain won't accept it and I keep expecting to see Emperor Ming-Tsu or Oda Nobunaga step down from the dais. This is only a short blog, as there is more information ... read more

The 45 minute train ride through glum suburbia(*) on a dull day did not give rise to any confidence in a revealing and pleasant day. But that is very much the end result we had. We enjoyed Nara by foot, taking in the Kofukuji and Gangoji temples. Then a wedding at the spectacular kasuga Taisha shrine that has thousands of stone and iron lanterns. Here we saw a bride being maticulously prepared in her shinto wedding gown for the photographer, followed by the start of the ceremony that was accompanied by haunting woodwind music. Onwards bound through the deer-studded park we reached the Todaji temple and so did hundreds of schoolchildren! The temple's features include giant iron guardians inside it's tall wooden gates and a 15 metre high buddha. A grand sight indeed. Darren bolted for ... read more

Kavin junalla Narassa. Tuli kuvattua vaikka olikin sadepaiva. Nukuin pitkaan, melkein yhdeksaan, ja kun satoi, ei oikein huvittanut lahtea liikkeelle. Olin unohtaa hostellin lainasateenvarjon bussiin linja-autoasemalla, mutta asiasta huomautti minulle nainen, joka oli noussut kyytiin samalla pysakilla, japaniksi siis. Olin asemalla Kintetsu-yhtion lippuluukulla klo 11.55. En ottanut 1100 jenin lippua klo 12.05 lahtevaan, vaan 610 jenin lipun klo 12.55 lahtevaan junaan. Odottaessani kavin syomassa asemalla 1850 jenin aterian: munakkaalla kuorrutettua riisia, kahvi, mansikkaleivos. Paasin Naraan vasta klo 14. Sain asemalta hyvan kartan ja neuvon siita, missa kannattaisi kayda. Kiersin puiston. Nakyi paljon peuroja ja koululaisia ja muutama temppeli. Ensimmaiseen eli Todaijin temppeliin maksoin itseni sisaan 500 jenilla. Sisatiloissa kuvaaminen sujui kohtalaisesti, kun sain tukea puup... read more

I found about The Takenouchi Highway. First, goodthing about this place is that we can know about Nara's buddhist culture. We are go in spring. Spring is good season travel to Japan. So we can see Spring flower. Japan is famous for Spring flower. And we can see sumo traditional match in March. Second, badthing about this place will be language. Because Japan peoples are no good English speakers. And meal problem. Japan peoples are usually use chopstics when they eat meal. Therefore inconvenience for a foreigner. Makes better thing about travel is learn about Japanese language. This will be makes better in travel. So we can speak a little with Japan people. And another thing is prepare about Japan's temples. Because It makes difference know travel and do not know travel. Forgot thing about this ... read more

The next leg of our trip was to Nara, where Buddhism first came to Japan. This small city SW of Kyoto was the capital when Buddhist missionaries brought Buddhism to Japan and it has lots and lots of fine temples. We stayed in a Ryokan (not a Rokugan as I kept calling them), which is a traditional Japanese inn with tatami floors and futons for beds. There was rather more luxury here as we got three futons rather than the one supplied at the previous place, and this was much more comfortable. The two main attractions of the ryokan are the huge communal bath and the amazing breakfasts. For the bath one has a wash in the shower before getting in and then one can wallow in a huge wonderfully hot bath about 8ft by 5ft ... read more