Nara

On Sat, Tristan, Megan, Rose, Susanne, and I went on a field trip to Nara. It is about an hour and a half by train. After going to so many cities here in Japan, it was nice to make it to a place with more natural beauty. After some ramen and gyoza, we walked to Kofukuji Temple. It is famous for it’s 5 floor pagoda. There we encountered many deer. At first they were all cute and Bambi like, but as we watched people trying to feed them, we realized how fearsome they were. If you had no food, they walked calmly by. But if you have the sembei crackers in your hand, they pull and bite at your clothes. I have many pictures of deer chasing people around while they throw their crackers at them, but I was absolutely ecstatic to catch one of the deer biting this poor man on the butt. Although the funniest thing was when Tristan went to buy water from the vending machine, turned around and was face to face with a deer with large antlers. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone jump so high. I could not stop laughing.
Then we walked to Todaiji Temple, which houses the Great Buddha of Nara, 53 feet tall, the largest bronze Buddha ever cast. It is inside the largest wooden building in the world. There is a pillar inside with a small hole at the base. It is good luck to squeeze through it. One man was pulled through by his wife after getting stuck. I think I could have maybe fit a leg through.
On the way back to the train, we came across a woman dressed in a kimono. She stopped and posed for our pictures. She looked fabulous!
This was the best place I’ve been to by far, especially after all the cities.
Saturday night, we went back to Wakayama and picked up some bento boxes for dinner. It was about 9pm and we walked to the castle to eat. It was very peaceful, but lots of bugs. Have I mentioned that there are small bats that fly around at night? So three of us were at one bench and Tristan and Megan were at the other. Suddenly Tristan throws his food in the air, screams, and runs off. He “said” that a bat landed on his back and walked two steps. None of us saw it but he insisted. That was the second time I almost peed my pants that day from laughing so hard.
All in all, another good weekend!