Friday 27th March
Kyoto
Day trip to Nara (Return train tickets included)
Earlyish breakfast where I suddenly recognised the people sitting more or less at the next table. They had been in the seats in front of us on the flight from London to Hong Kong. I couldn't resist saying hello to them and wondered if they had also been to Fukuoka. In fact they hadn't; instead they had been to Tokyo. Before I could engage in any more conversation Jo said their breakfast was getting cold and ushered me away!
Our 'itinerary' was to catch the train from Kyoto to Nara at about 10:05, but having arrived at the station early we caught a train about half an hour before our scheduled departure. The platform was packed before the train arrived, and when it did we just piled on and grabbed some seats, although not next to each other. The 'piling on' was largely a result of lots of western tourists not following the courteous example of the Japanese.
We walked from the station to the closest entrance to Nara Park, passing along an attractive, modern street and then through a Torii Gate into the park and on to our first point of call, the Kasuga Taisha Shrine. Nara Park is famous for it's deer. They come up to visitors 'begging' for food, nodding their heads in the traditional way the Japanese bow to greet one. One way or another it works, almost no one can resist feeding the deer with 'deer crackers' bought from enterprising coffee stalls. We, of course, managed to resist.
Nara Park is also famed for the Todaiji Temple, a UNESCO World Heritage Site known for its Great Buddha Hall housing the world's largest bronze statue of the Buddha (approximately 15 metres tall). Perhaps we should have been more determined, but the queue to get in put us off and we decided to just observe through the gates.
Almost next to the Todaiji Temple is the far more modest Kaidando Hall, for which there was no queue, (and an entrance fee of 800 Yen, as opposed to 1000 Yen) which made it a far more enticing prospect. This was another temple where we had to take our shoes off to go inside, and in which no photography was allowed. In comparison with other temples in Nara Park it is tiny, but without the crowds was a far more peaceful experience.
By this time it was probably near 1:30pm and lunch was becoming urgent. So urgent in fact that we ended up in Starbucks above the bus station! It sounds terrible, on several levels, but was actually very pleasant, with views over the park entrance.
Lunch over, (look away now - I had some doughnuts, Jo a Natcha scone, and we both had cappuccinos), it was back into the park for a short walk around Yoshikien Garden.
Then what seemed a long walk back to the station before returning to Kyoto. Having arrived back in Kyoto (the trip takes nearly an hour) and whilst at the station we thought it would be wise to establish where we needed to go tomorrow to catch the train to Kanazawa. It was a good job we did as it involved about three circuits of the station before we found what we hope will be the correct ticket barrier - we will find out tomorrow if we got it right!
We had dinner at the hotel. For Jo, the Omi Japanese Beef Dinner, and for me some Prosciutto for starters, sirloin beef for main course and creme brulee for pudding.
Postscript
It seems we weren't the first people to visit Nara! Sam sent us these lovely photos of him with his mum, Margaret, and sister Danielle in about 1985, and two more recent photos when he visited Japan with Chloe in 2008. The photo of Sam in 1985 looks remarkably similar to Sebbie, aged 4.
