Kyoto Day Two / Nara - March 20th

We headed out this morning around 700. Getting going took a little more effort than preparing for one of my Tokyo trips. I attribute it to the running around we did after getting in last night. After having breakfast at Starbucks at the base of Kyoto tower to was off to Ni Joo-Joo. To get there we bought a one day pass for 1200 Yen, they also sell a two day pass for 2000 Yen. The one day pass gets you access to most buses in the city and all subway lines.

Ni Joo-Joo:
This is the castle that is just north of Kyoto station. It was built in 1603 for a shogun Ieyasu. The interior floors were made to make noise as an alarm system (nightingale floors). It was interesting walking around hearing the floor constantly squeaking. The interior was fairly large, no photography was allowed inside. There are striking similarities to the castle design here and what I saw in the UK. After finishing up we decided to go check out the Kinkaku-Ji.

Kinkaku-Ji (Golden Temple):
To get to the Golden temple we got on a bus right outside of Ni Joo-Joo. On the approach to the entrance there is a hill off to the right where the Kanji for big was. They lite it on fire at night, this is a ways away from where we are staying so I doubt I will be getting a picture of it on this trip. The Golden Temple was in a very good place for picture taking. The lake that it sits on was still so there are a few very nice reflection shots. There was a good amount of walking around this area. The next stop was lunch.

Okonomi-Yaki:
We found an Okonomi-Yaki place in the mall right next to the city hall. This is an interesting dish and this was the first time I had it prepared at the table we ate at. It is mostly cabbage with batter and then fish flakes. It took a little longer than I had thought to eat, but it was a decent meal for a good price. After we were fueled up it was off to Nara.

Nara:
If you want to travel from Kyoto to Nara there are two different train lines you can take. We decided on the JR line. This was mostly based on the fact that I have a Suica and it is really easy to get around. The express train takes 44 minutes from Kyoto to Nara.

Nara is celebrating its 1300 year anniversary right now. So if you see a crazy deer human thing in my pictures it is the symbol for Nara and it is everywhere for the celebration. From the station it is a 15 minute walk to the area with most of the sites to see. The first thing was stopped and got pictures of was a five story pagoda. While walking to our next stop we got into the deer park. There are over 1000 deer living in this area of Nara. For 150 Yen you can buy a deer biscuit. This is not to eat but to give to the deer. They were everywhere, we saw an unsuspecting guy leave his hand down with a biscuit and he got nibbled by the deer. He ran away from the deer heading straight for us and basically hiding behind us. I supposed just head for the scary white guys and the deer will know not to step. They did have someone shoot a deer last week with an arrow. That was the third deer that has been shot in the last 10 years. Two with arrows and one with a harpoon interestingly enough. I don't believe that anyone accepts deer as land whales. One of the deer was trying to cross the street and almost got hit by a taxi. I am guessing if you do that very stiff penalties will be enforced. The next stop was the largest wooden building in the world which holds the largest bronze Daibutsu (Giant Buddha) in Japan. Toodai-Ji is very awesome in person, it is hard to believe that the original casting of the Daibutsu was done in 746. After checking this area out we headed to one more stop before going back to Kyoto. The last thing in Nara was Kasuga Taisha. There are hundreds of lanterns spread throughout the approach and inside the shrine.

Kyoto:
We basically ran back to the train station in an attempt to make it on the express. Which we found we had enough time for and it was delayed an additional 4 minutes. The majority of the track in between Nara and Kyoto is only one rail, so if you miss your time you will wait along the way. We got to the second station and were in a holding pattern for 10 minutes. The train was nice and warm with several miles walked already I found myself falling asleep I woke up about 10 minutes before getting to Kyoto. The train had filled up in that time. We had dinner at a Katsu place in the covered arcade area by city hall. It was really awesome once you got inside. It was pretty strange they had a large table which seated 16, so it was like eating at home with a bunch of strange people. I got a custard dish that I thought was going to be a desert. Well I was wrong. It had shrimp, pork, and fish hot dog. I need to quickly cleanse the pallet after that experience so 100 Yen well spent on a soft cream from McDonald's did that job. We walked back to the hotel from that area which took around 40 minutes. We got back just in time because as the forecast had promised rain has arrived. Time to get some sleep to recharge for tomorrows trip to Osaka and Kobe.

Kyoto Day Two Nara - March 20th