A short day trip away from Osaka is Nara, home to the amazing Nara park. Nara itself was the capital of Japan at one point, and contains some beautiful buildings as well as the well known Todaiji Temple. The current wooden temple surrounding the Daibutsu is only two thirds of its’ original size; however, it is still the largest wooden structure in the world and is impressive to see.
After Todaiji and the Great Buddha, we walked around Nara park to look at the other world heritage sites. We did feed the deer in Nara Park which are considered a natural treasure; however, be warned they can be rather overwhelming if you have food. Even in winter I ended up being surrounded by six or more deer with some attempting to eat my coat and grab at sleeves. We wandered through most of the park, and spent some time around Kasuga Taisha which was incredibly beautiful. Unfortunately the weather started to turn just as we finished our loop of the park, so we decided to hop on our train and head to Kyoto.
Some things I learnt during our time in Nara:
- Deer will eat anything if they think you have food… including your coat
- Nara park is big, make sure you give yourself enough time to get around it
Summary
- What we did: 1 day spent visiting Todaiji and the beautiful Nara park
- Favourite part: Wandering through Nara park seeing all the world heritage sites
- Best Experience: Feeding the deer in Nara, and attempting to not be eaten
- Worst Experience: Nothing particularly bad, except for the unrelenting cold. By the end of the day we were well and truly frozen and looking forward to our accommodation in Kyoto
- Must See Attraction: Todaiji without a doubt
- Next stop: Kyoto!
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- Todaiji – Implements for cleansing, Nara
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- Daibutsu at Todaiji, Nara
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- Kokuuzo-bosatsu, Todaiji Nara
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- Looking over Nara Park, Nara
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- Kasuga Taisha, Nara
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- Todaiji, Nara