Nara

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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 had to practise their English by asking questions of tourists. Note: 11 year old Japanese boys are just as cheeky as 11 year old Australian boys. We have seen a few school children on excursion over the last week. My favourites so far have been the little kids in Madeleine-style uniforms. Anyway, descending like seagulls on a chip, the schoolkids pounced, eager to practise their English and get our signatures in their booklets.

About 1000 lanterns, shrines and temples later, we walked down the hill (avoiding deer mating rituals) to arrive at probably the 100th mall of the trip. There were also lots of opportunities to purchase souvenirs all the way up the hill, with each place selling basically the same thing. We have noticed that the cities we have visited so far have their own mascot (or two) and Nara's was some ugly boy with deer horns. However, as usual 'Hello Kitty' always pops up in whatever theme or costume of the city. Deer horns on 'Hello Kitty'? Why not. Buddha cradling 'Hello Kitty' with horns? What the hell????

Passing by shops, glancing in some, we entered the world of the Japanese supermarket. "If only we had room for 10 litres of saki," Dean mused at one point. Vats of saki lined one aisle, cheap Korean alcohol another and cheap wine in what could only be described as two litre milk cartons in another. We settled for some bananas and chips, eating them outside in front of a van selling octopus dumplings.

Our night ended with a cheap and cheery meal in a family restaurant around the corner from the hostel, again relying on the old 'point at pictures' technique and hoping for the best (remember - chicken livers look appetising in a picture!). Must also add that Hostelworld 2012 is a billion times better than Hostelworld 1992. Eleanor was particularly taken with the bunks and lockers. Our room was fantastic, super clean and had all the comforts a hotel would provide, even though it did come with a glass-walled ensuite. Slightly disconcerting, however the blind provided us with privacy, as the lady assured us it would!

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Photos

Mugged by deer
Excitement soon turns to panic when a herd thinks you've got food.

At the second tallest pagoda
Dean was mildly impressed with the temples and shrines in this complex at Nara.

One of the many choices
You can't walk very far without seeing a vending machine. Some great drink options and at Nara Park you can also buy deer food in them.

Comments

[Brad]

Japan
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