The view from the front yard of our home stay guesthouse.
The train ride back to Osaka, wrapping around the Kii Peninsula, back to Osaka, was long but also uneventful.
Sarah on the train back to Osaka. Sadly, not one of the famous bullet trains, but we made good time.
Back in Osaka, albeit briefly, we switched trains, for another hour-long trip to Nara. While we all wanted to go to Nara, it was sort of "Stella's pick" once she had heard about the deer that live there. Again, the ride went smooth, and we soon found ourselves to at Nara's train station. Next, to get to our guest house there... if we had one.
We'd been sort of loosey goosey with this portion of our trip. We weren't certain how we'd feel after the hike, and if we'd want to make our way to Kyoto quickly, or take the slow road. But, yesterday, after wrapping up our hike, we decided to head straight to Nara, so we could maximize our time there, before Kyoto. As a result, we hadn't even tried to arrange our AirBnb until that evening. And, while the AirBnb owner had responded, we still hadn't received any check in info.
Fortunately, we were able to navigate our way there, and found the rental, though we still didn't have instructions on how to get in. So, while Sarah stood guard with our luggage, I made the obligatory run to Lawson Station (the Family Mart competitor) to get snacks, with the kids.
By the time we came back, with our bag of snacks, Sarah happily exclaims that she just got a message from the Airbnb person: "Door's unlocked, we can let ourselves in!"
The front of the rental house.
After several days of hiking, and then a day of traveling, the kids needed some down time. In addition, all of our clothes were dirty and sweaty, so we needed to do some laundry. So, while Sarah and the kids read and played video games, I tried to figure out the nearby laundromat. That ended up a lot of running back and forth, a trip back to Lawson Station for some laundry soap, and a lot of trips past what appeared to be a mysterious abandoned prison around the corner from our place. But, eventually, the laundry was done.
And we were all hungry.
I'd read about an isakaya a short walk away, so we tried to go there. But, when we arrived, it turned out to not only have a crowd of tourist milling around out front, but was also all booked up for the evening. So, we headed back to what appeared to be another izakaya, a half block from our place. We peaked inside and saw a woman bartender, with a single man sitting at the bar. The both looked a little confused to have some tourist poke their heads in, but smiled and waved us in.
What followed was a very entertaining meal. Isakaya's are basically bars, but they serve food and since Japan's laws are different, there's no problem with kids coming in, too. It's just not that conventional, and this place obviously wasn't a regular stop for tourists.
Fortunately, the man had lived in the US for a while, and while his English was a little rusty, he was more than happy to jump into a lively conversation with us, while refilling our sake cups. And, for her part, the bartender filled my beer mug and began passing food across the bar to us indiscriminately. The entire atmosphere was lively and fun, and the sake didn't hurt the situation. Eventually though, it was getting late. and a pair of women had also arrived, and lit cigarettes, and the small room was getting smoky fast, so we politely said our farewells, paid our tab, and made our way home.
The next morning, both Sarah and I woke up with slightly upset stomachs. Since the kids seemed fine, we blamed some pasta salad we'd had the night before. So, we had a slow morning, to make sure things didn't get worse.
Fortunately, a short time later, both Sarah and I are feeling better, so it was time to see some deer!
Heading out, we make our way to the main east-west street, Sanjodori Street, and start heading for Nara's large central park.
Our first stop was the Kofokuji Temple complex, which had once all belonged to the second most powerful family in Japan. And, while many of the original buildings have since burnt down or otherwise been lost, still had a number of shrines, temples and a 5-stories pagoda.
The pagoda and neighboring temple.
Otto rings the bell on the main shrine.
It was also here that we got our first peak of the deer. Probably the main reason that people come to Nara these days is the deer. Originally, left alone because they were considered sacred, they have now become, er, semi-tame and fill Nara's large park and some of the surrounding neighborhoods. Over the years, the deer have learned that, if you bow to them, and they bow back, you will give them a cracker.
So, with that in mind, we bought some crackers from a nearby vendor, to feed the deer.
But, it turns out that the deer know when you are buying the crackers, and are eager to have the crackers... and, when you have a half dozen deer coming at you, it's sort of intimidating. I barely got a couple of crackers passed to Stella, before they were on me, tugging at my backpack, prematurely bowing and one even casually bit my butt.
So, while Stella backpedaled, and hastily passed out her crackers, Otto waved off my attempts to pass him crackers, and I handed the rest out myself.
Deer swarm!
Stella and a deer bowing to each other.
But, while it may have been a bit daunting to feed them, the deer were still really amazing to see. It was crazy to see so many of them, and most of them had no problem with people walking up and petting them, or even taking selfies with them.
Deer selfie!
They even seemed to understand crosswalks. This one waited at the intersection and the cross when the lights changed. Deer crossing!
Other tourists being swarmed by deer.
Sarah's turn! She quickly learned than when the bucks bowed, they also inadvertently started waking you with their horns.
The kids and a deer try to beat the heat with a misting machine at a souvenir shop.
But, while the deer are the main attraction for most visitors, they aren't Nara's only draw. Nara also has the world's largest Bronze cast Buddha, house in one of the world's largest wood buildings. So, weaving through deer and under a giant gate, we make our way there.
The temple housing the Giant Buddha. It's hard to get a sense of a scale, but just look at the tiny people walking into it. And, the fact that it's all wood gives it an unexpected sense of artistry.
The Giant Buddha. Again, hard to get a sense of scale, but those little Buddha's are effectively life-sized. Apparently, it's lost it's head 3 times over it's history. Twice when the head melted when the temple burnt down, and it once fell off in a particularly strong earthquake.
There's also a number of other statues in the temple, including this fierce fellow.
In one corner of the temple, there is a post, with a hole carved in it. It's said that, if you can squeeze through it, you will achieve Enlightenment in your lifetime. After watching another tourist nearly get stuck, Sarah and I decided to pass, but the kids slipped through as quick as can be.
They both literally squeezed through so quick, I couldn't get a good picture of either... so these will have to do.
On either side of the Giant Buddha, there also sat additional Very Big Buddhas, who would be an impressive centerpiece in nearly any other temple.
After checking out the Giant Buddha, we continued to wander through the park some more, taking in a large golden pole and a shrine surrounded by dozens of stone lanterns. But, we were also starting to get hungry and tired, so we began looking for a place to get lunch.
Eventually, we settled on a place just outside the park, which served soba noodles. So, we enjoyed those, and some air conditioning.
Dabbing for soba noodles.
As had become tradition, after lunch, the kids were promised shaved ice for dessert. So, after a little detour so Stella could check out a stationary store we'd seen on our walk to the park, we headed down a long, covered pedestrian street, looking for a fancy shaved ice place Sarah had read good things about.
Arriving at Hoseki Hako, we were shocked (socked, I say!) to see a "sold out" sign up on the front door. Apparently, in Nara, shaved ice places need reservations! But, while we stood there, looking at the storefront dejectedly, a minor miracle happened: One of the women working there walked to the front door, opened it, and said "would you like shaved ice? We've had some reservations cancel."
Hurrah!
So, we took our seats, and ordered our shaved ice... and it was amazing. We'd had quite a bit of shaved ice, since arriving in Japan, but most of it was pretty unexceptional: Roughly shaved ice, in a paper cup, with the invariable cherry, blue Hawaiian or macha green tea flavors. But, this set a new standard. Large, with exciting flavors and toppings and immaculately made and presented.
My kiwi, basil and cream shaved ice.
Sarah excited for her peach hibiscus shaved ice. Taking a bit of the peach on top, she declared: "This is the second best piece of peach I've had in my life!"
As we departed, the server explained that they opened at 10am, but people queued up before 9 to secure a reservation. We decided that we'd come back the next morning to get a 10 or 10:30 reservation and enjoy another shaved ice before catching out train. But, (spoilers) by the time we arrived at 8:30, those times were already sold out.
After enjoying out shaved ice, we made our way back to our place for some downtime. When it came time for dinner, we were excited to try out an amazing smelling yakitori restaurants, but -in a twist that should surprise no one- it was already all booked up for the evening.
So, faced with two starving kids who didn't have the patience to wander around looking for some random restaurant to please mom and dad, we just made our way to the next open place we could find: An unexceptional restaurant that at least had noodles and potstickers for the kids, and a beer for me and we amused ourselves with the odd and unappetizing translations on the English language menu.
"Can I get the lungs tempura and random salad?"
With food in our bellies, and the light fading quickly, we made our way back to our place again; wrapping up our all too brief stay in Nara.
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