Kyoto Trip: Part 2 (Nara)

The next morning, our group decided to split up a little bit for the day. Harry & Craig wanted to stay back in Kyoto and walk around on their own for awhile while Nick, Chris and I chose to jump on a 45 minute train to nearby Nara: the original capital of Japan. Nara is well known for its famous temples, large park area, and huge population of deer.

On our walk over the the temples we stopped at the local "Mos Burger" (think MacDonald's - slightly better, slightly smaller burgers) for some sustenance. Also nearby was a small Phiten store where I caved in and bought another necklace!

We eventually made it over to the Kofukuji temple complex, a Buddhist religious site with 2 pagodas, one major temple, and 3 sub temples.
3 story pagoda
sub temple
1 story for each elements: fire, water, air, earth, and sun

As we continued on our walk we came across a large group of people looking at a big tour bus. Upon closer inspection, we discovered that there was a filming going on for a commercial - most likely for a luggage company. The star was a famous Korean actor known for his roles in Japanese day-time dramas.


Next on our list was the Isuien Gardens, well respected for its beauty and tranquility. While it certainly was beautiful, there was a local rock band competition going on in Nara for the weekend so there wasn't too much tranquility!

Various spots inside the Isuien Garden grounds.

Following the gardens was the main event: Todaji Temple. Todaji Temple is another Buddhist site home to one of the largest Buddha statues in the world (this one made from bronze, mercury and vegetable wax). It holds the record as the largest wooden building in the world. The path leading up to it was unlike Kyoto - there were almost no souvenir stands and the road was full of deer. There were almost as many deer as people walking around and they had all become tame since people would commonly feed them.

The architecture was very impressive and the sheer size of the Buddha statue was amazing - they say up to 6 monks sometimes stand in his hand while cleaning it!

After that we had a leisurely paced walk through Nara Park on the way to the Kasuga Grand Shrine. Nearing the main shrine grounds we walked by over 3000 stone and bronze lanterns - which the Grand Shrine has become known for.

Following our visit to the Kasuga Grand shrine we started to work our way back to the train station where we planned to stop off in southern Kyoto before heading back to the ryokan. On the way there, we past by the Sagi Pond full of families rowing slowly in rental boats for the evening.

The sunset comes beautifully as we prepared to jump on the train.

Nara's Train Station.

Our next target was the Fushimi Inari Shrine, dedicated to a Shinto Fox god. The locale is famous for its hundreds and hundreds of tori (gates) mostly donated by businessmen.

It was pitch black when we began following the trail of tori up through Kyoto's southern hillside. Luckily, the Shrine is open 24 hours and is well lit throughout the two hour long circuit it takes to get to the top and back down.

Our walk that night really had a magical feeling to it. Dead silent and slightly cool outside walking through the seemingly endless stream of tori was a mystical experience and I hope that I'll be able to make it back once more in my lifetime. For me it was the highlight of the entire trip and I know Nick and Chris really enjoyed it as well. Close to the top of the trail they had some beautiful overlooks which gave you a panoramic view of Kyoto, we made sure to get some photos and savor the moment.


Get ready for the trip finale...