Wednesday, November 29, 2006
25 November, 2006
We woke up with the alarm clock yet again and got to the Tokyo station to catch the train to Osaka. We had to leave Kyoto because we could not find accommodation anywhere. For the same price we found an amazing hotel in Osaka and Daryl was there too so we would spend some time with him too. The plan was to get to Osaka, check in and then have a day in Nara with Daryl and his work colleague. All went according to plan and we arrived in Nara at about 12h00. It is a very small town easily viewed on foot. We started with the 5 storey Pagoda which is the symbol of Nara. Nara was the capital of Japan before Kyoto in 710 – 784 (Heijokyo). We then visited 2 gardens since Daryl hadn’t seen any greenery since he arrived in Japan and Tokyo and Osaka are not the places one would find these pretty spots. The gardens were gorgeous with the ponds and neatly placed cobbled stones and of course the amazing – coloured leaves of the trees. We then got to the Todai Ji (Temple) where we saw a huge Buddha- one of the largest bronze statues in the world. The entrance to the Temple had enormous gates with Kings guarding off all evil and protecting the Temple. The Temple structure holding this Buddha is considered to be the largest wooden building in the world. The Buddha is gold and within the building there is a wall with a hole which is meant to be the size of the Buddha’s nostril. It is believed that if one crawls through the hole and reaches the other side they are reaching a state of enlightenment. Of course I had to try and the “Big Bum” actually got through! We had school girls giving us a free tour inside since they had to practice their English as part of their curriculum. We then headed down a path that lead to the Kasuga Taisha Shrine. It was filled with lanterns and is known as 1000 lantern path. This Shrine was rebuilt every 20 yrs according to the Shinto tradition up until the end of the 19th century. Nara is a beautiful town with greenery and parks all over. There are free roaming deer everywhere which in pre-Buddhist time were considered messengers of the G-ds. The deer lurk around ready for any handouts (biscuits) they might get from passing tourists. We ended our day enjoying a well deserved coffee before we caught the train back to Osaka. We went with Daryl for dinner and we had great sushi. We finally got to our hotel and the room was tiny but better than most.
We woke up with the alarm clock yet again and got to the Tokyo station to catch the train to Osaka. We had to leave Kyoto because we could not find accommodation anywhere. For the same price we found an amazing hotel in Osaka and Daryl was there too so we would spend some time with him too. The plan was to get to Osaka, check in and then have a day in Nara with Daryl and his work colleague. All went according to plan and we arrived in Nara at about 12h00. It is a very small town easily viewed on foot. We started with the 5 storey Pagoda which is the symbol of Nara. Nara was the capital of Japan before Kyoto in 710 – 784 (Heijokyo). We then visited 2 gardens since Daryl hadn’t seen any greenery since he arrived in Japan and Tokyo and Osaka are not the places one would find these pretty spots. The gardens were gorgeous with the ponds and neatly placed cobbled stones and of course the amazing – coloured leaves of the trees. We then got to the Todai Ji (Temple) where we saw a huge Buddha- one of the largest bronze statues in the world. The entrance to the Temple had enormous gates with Kings guarding off all evil and protecting the Temple. The Temple structure holding this Buddha is considered to be the largest wooden building in the world. The Buddha is gold and within the building there is a wall with a hole which is meant to be the size of the Buddha’s nostril. It is believed that if one crawls through the hole and reaches the other side they are reaching a state of enlightenment. Of course I had to try and the “Big Bum” actually got through! We had school girls giving us a free tour inside since they had to practice their English as part of their curriculum. We then headed down a path that lead to the Kasuga Taisha Shrine. It was filled with lanterns and is known as 1000 lantern path. This Shrine was rebuilt every 20 yrs according to the Shinto tradition up until the end of the 19th century. Nara is a beautiful town with greenery and parks all over. There are free roaming deer everywhere which in pre-Buddhist time were considered messengers of the G-ds. The deer lurk around ready for any handouts (biscuits) they might get from passing tourists. We ended our day enjoying a well deserved coffee before we caught the train back to Osaka. We went with Daryl for dinner and we had great sushi. We finally got to our hotel and the room was tiny but better than most.
# posted by Heidi & Richard's travels @ 12:41 AM 
