After a late start we finally arrived in Nara.
Why it took six hours to wake up shower get Starbucks and make it to the train station is anyone's guess. Essentially we took in the bath in the hotels basement. Jason took a longer soak than I. I went up to the room and tried to get my photos to upload to Dropbox. Finally we walked to the Starbucks on Doutonbori. Unfortunately it didn't open until 8, so we walked around to another Starbucks that wasn't as nice, if was very small, we wandered a bit around the arcades near Namba circling back to the Starbucks. We ended up as the first customers and sat upstairs. Because this Starbucks is below or part of a Tsutaya books stores it had a large seating area that is very comfy.
Finally got back to the room, jag some yogurt goofed about taking the subway to Tennoji station arriving in Nara around noon. Nara finally had finished the new train station. Every other time we have come out was under construction.
Finding an okonomiyaki Cafe near the station we has a nice lunch of simple delicious okonomiyaki. The cafe was very cute, three tables. In the back the one waitress cooked our Okonomiyaki and brought it out on hot cast iron plates on a wooden tray. With our steel mallets we cut off bits of okonomiyaki and ate it off plates with chop sticks. For around $13 it was a delicious lunch.
Afterwards we walked along the main drag until we hit the first temple and the Nara deer. Although cute, I find them to be a bit gross. Very docile they come right up to you looking to be fed. Vendors sell deer crackers for ¥150(about $1.25 at the current exchange rate). While I nursed my blister J took as bunch of pictures of the deer. It is always great to travel with someone who enjoys taking pictures so when I obsess about photographing the architecture he has something to do.
We walked further through the park that makes up the centre of Nara, heading to Todaji Temple to see the big Buddha. If course along the way were more encounters with deer and scores of tourist. In front of the temple were hordes of Japanese school tours and Chinese tourists. Lucky the Temple complex is huge and the large hall with the Buddha can hold a bunch of people. We noticed that whenever J had me pose for a picture the Chinese tourists would copy us.
Leaving Todajai we walked through the park away from the throngs of people. This part of Nara is quieter leading us to the back side of xxx shrine. Set within a forested area at the foothills it is surrounded by stone lantern covered in moss.
The Temple itself is bright red, with a promenade surrounding it. Water trickles down from the mountains above.
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