end of Kyoto area, day three...Nara...

We left the Fushimi Inari Shrine of my last post, and got back on the train to Nara.  We were there to see the 53-foot-tall Buddha (called the Daibutsu) at the gigantic Todai-ji Temple. The statue was dedicated in 749, and is the biggest bronze statue in the world.  

The deer were out and John was foolish enough to buy deer cakes for them.  As he reached for his wallet, all the nearby deer made a beeline for him.  Apparently, they have seen his kind before.  They chased him down the avenue while he threw deercakes hither and yon, trying to divert them from biting his behind.  Didn't he notice the posted sign that showed children crying while deer massed around them like vultures?

Inside the Todai-ji Temple, the Big Boy was surrounded by all sorts of scary statues that were meant to protect ex-Emperor Shomu (701-758), who built the Temple and had the Buddha made and renounced his title to become a monk.  

Almost as scary as all the grimacing giants inside the temple were the trees outside, whose roots could not be contained under the ground (apparently) and looked like snakes.  I can imagine that if you wander around there after dark, those scary, snakey roots will come up and grab you and drag you to who-knows-where.

Probably off to be eaten by some famished deer that didn't get enough cakes the afternoon before.

We wandered back towards the train station, on the wide sidewalks and even in tunnels that went under busy streets.  In one of them, there was this cool panoramic of the evolution of Nara from 1300 to 2010.  

We finally came upon the site of the 5-story Pagoda, part of the Kofukuji Temple grounds.  Unfortunately, any photo I tried to take of the Pagoda was terrible due to backlight and rain.  But I did get some photos of the Nanendo (Southern Octagonal Hall), constructed in 813 and is significant because it is Temple Number Nine in the West Japan 33 Temple Route.  It is only open one day a year.

At last, we got close to the train station. Check the photos below.  The streets were really rainy, but as all over Japan, they have covered shopping everywhere.  And so much really cool stuff.  If John hadn't been there, I might have lingered over these cool pink handmade purses, and bought one.

We actually went into a Pachinko Parlor (found all over Japan) and it would have been fun to stay but they are SO LOUD that we might have gone deaf if we stayed.  Are many Japanese people driven to deafness by their Pachinko habits, I wonder?

Comments

[tinker]

What fun photos!