My cute little tatami room.
Nara was also the capital of Japan from 710 to 784, making it a treasure chest for very old things indeed. Kyoto might have been full of temples and such, but in Nara I was literally bumping into “Unesco World Heritage Site” slabs and “Japanese Cultural Treasure” signs around every frakkin' corner! Most of the biggest attractions were concentrated in the central Nara park, which itself was too large to properly cover in a single day.
Gango-ji temple, formerly known as Asuka temple. First full-on Buddhist temple in Japan, first version of it built in Buddha-knows-when, but moved to Nara in the year 718, following the migrational patterns of the empire's capital.
It's funny to think that they allow people to freely enter a 1300-years old wooden building, but they do. They even allow photographing inside. They actually seem to allow cameras everywhere in Japan, unlike in some places *cough*China*cough*UK*cough*, where you might end up in jail just for taking a picture of a building. I'm not a religious person, but it didn't feel right taking photos inside the actual temple. Here's one from the outside, though. Nice place.
Gango-ji's stuff.
An imp (or something) lounging next to the temple.
There are several supposedly interesting museums close to Gango-ji, but as luck would have it, they "aren't doing business on Thursdays". Fuck off, you Japanese are supposed to be like ants, working around the clock, minus the cigarette break every 15 minutes.
Aww, they have a pugsy! There are many dogs around, but most of them are either Welsh Corgis or Shiba Inus.
These signs are much-needed, but this version pisses me off a bit. ("Don't forget your puppy's leftovers." dog: "Master, take that with you, would you." Shit: "Pick me up.")
More like "Pick up that can."
Anyway.
Another thing going for the city are the hordes of deer roaming the park freely. They aren't exactly shy: several times I would just be standing there, when all of sudden one of them would bump its head into the small of my back, begging for shika-senbei – deer cakes – that most tourists there carry around and that are sold all over the park. No idea where or when the habit got started, but the deer aren't complaining. Most of them have actually been taught (by people or is the trick actually passed down from generation to another already?) to bow back to people, when they bow to them, of course expecting a treat afterwards, and getting a tad on the aggressive side, if they don't get it. It was hilarious watching a row of deer standing in front of a tiny booth selling deer cakes bowing down repeatedly in unison, while the old lady inside the booth was giving them whacks across the face with a broomstick. Even the deer should know that you never, ever mess around with the shopkeeper..
:)
In Nara park, a deer and a crow.
Deer begging for shika-senbei.
Inside Nara park, the Great South Gate.
Inside the gate, two of these huge demon dudes sneering at people. (looks like a painting, but it's a statue.)
On the other side of the gate, Todai-ji temple. Take this: the original temple was built in the 8th century, and the current version is the 3rd iteration. The current version is also about 33% smaller than the original one, and yet it is said to be the largest wooden building in the world! Yea, it's pretty big.
Inside the temple, a large statue of buddha. Man, those kids were lightning fast, getting into the picture... With all the elementary school students touring the place, going into the temple was one big let's-English-practise! tournee for me.
I preferred these more badass statues, also in the temple.
Outside the temple, Yakushi Nyorai. He was supposed to be master of medicine and now people are lining up to rub the parts of the statue that they are having some ailment in, right after which rubbing the aching part itself, an act that is supposed to have some mysterious healing power. The statue looks a bit scary, being old and all, but I really like the shower cap they have given the guy. :)
Kasuga-Taisha. A shrine famous for its many beautiful stone lanterns. It is surrounded by old forest that is also very pleasant to walk around in, taking in some peace and quiet from the tourist masses in the more open areas of the park.
Stone garden inside Kasuga-Taisha.
During the five days in Kyoto and Nara, I must have walked a good 10-15 km per day. Feeling pretty good about it, and the bottoms of my feet have also gotten used to the punishment. Especially climbing up and down all the hills, I feel, is doing me a world of good.
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