# Day 10 - The good, the bad, and the mossy ## Deer as far as the eye can see Nara Park is not just home to several important shrines and temples, but also (much to the delight of its visitors) to approximately 1,400 adorable wild deer who will famously bow at people in hopes of receiving treats in the form of special deer crackers sold in the park. As soon as you step foot near the park, the deer are EVERYWHERE, and we enjoyed exchanging bows with them, as well as watching tourists get chased and nipped by the particularly rowdy ones. ![[day 10 - 1.jpg]] ![[day 10 - 3.jpg]] ![[day 10 - 2.jpg]] ## Temples Our first stop in Nara Park was Tōdai-ji, a Buddhist temple constructed in 752 CE that became so powerful it prompted the capital of Japan to be moved away from Nara to Kyoto in order to lower its influence on matters of government. Despite being rebuilt in 1692 at only 2/3 its original size after it burned down, this monument is epic in scope, and to stand in its looming presence is to be left awestruck and overwhelmed. As you walk through the main temple door past wafts of incense, you are confronted with one of Japan’s largest bronze Buddha statues towering at 15m/50ft tall (it feels even taller because it sits atop a high platform). On either side sit two smaller, but no less impressive, golden Bodhisattvas. We were able to walk around and take in a full 360 degree view of these spectacular structures. ![[day 10 - 5.jpg]] ![[day 10 - 6.jpg]] ![[day 10 - 7.jpg]] Next up we visited Kasuga Taisha, a shrine dedicated to the protective deity of Nara that is just as much about the journey as it is the destination. The path leading to the shrine is flanked with thousands of standing stone lanterns. Manu has been a particular fan of shrine lanterns on our trip, and he especially loved these ones with their mossy exteriors. The shrine itself also houses hundreds of beautiful small hanging bronze lanterns, which are only lit once a year in February. ![[day 10 - 8.jpg]] ![[day 10 - 9.jpg]] ![[day 10 - 10.jpg]] ![[day 10 - 11.jpg]] ![[day 10 - 12.jpg]] ![[day 10 - 13.jpg]] While almost everywhere we’ve been in Japan so far has accepted credit cards, we learned the hard way that in Nara cash is king. Our plans for lunch at a quaint one-woman eatery and sake tasting (Nara is the birthplace of sake) were quickly dashed. After managing to withdraw some more yen, we were a little short on time, so we grabbed lunch at a local burger chain called Mos. For dessert we checked out a popular confectioner selling yomogi mochi—a special type of mochi with Japanese mugwort incorporated into the dough. Visitors who stop by at the right time can see the employees pounding out the mochi by hand with enormous wooden pestles. Though we didn’t get to see them in action, the delicious red-bean filled mochi we bought from them were still warm and oh so gooey. A completely different experience from typical mochi we’ve bought in the markets! With a little time left over, we were able to try a glass each of some local Nara sake at a bar in town after all. Then it was time to board a very special train with festive green seats to Kyoto. ![[day 10 - 14.jpg]] ![[day 10 - 15.jpg]] ## Kyotoland The historic beauty of Kyoto has long been hyped to us, so during the thirty-minute journey from Kyoto Station to our hotel, called RAKURO, we were surprised to discover the streets were mostly quite plain with drab 20th-century buildings. We decided to keep an open mind, and after dropping our luggage at the hotel ventured off toward Gion, the older and famed geisha district of Kyoto. Here along the river we began to see some of the beauty Kyoto is known for, including the biggest, fullest, fluffiest cherry blossoms we’ve seen so far, but still something wasn’t clicking for us. Perhaps it was simply the wall-to-wall crowds, but somehow this felt more like an Edo-era-themed amusement park than an authentic living breathing city. ![[day 10 - 17.jpg]] ![[day 10 - 18.jpg]] ![[day 10 - 16.jpg]] ![[day 10 - 19.jpg]] ![[day 10 - 20.jpg]] Unsurprisingly based on the thousands of people swarming the streets, finding dinner was rather an ordeal. We ran around to several restaurants, each quoting a minimum of an hour wait just to be seated. As it was already getting quite late, and with an early morning planned for the next day, we simply couldn’t stomach it. Thankfully we finally found a restaurant called Pelgag who were able to seat us right away at their last open bar seats. That being said, we discovered the restaurant was a one-man operation (read: slow), so we ended up not eating until around 9pm anyway. At the very least, our dinner sets of curry and stew were tasty and satisfying.