walking tour of Nara

a five tier pagoda
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On our first proper day in Kyoto we made an early start and actually caught a train out of Kyoto and away from town. This might sound like an odd way to "see" a city we have been dieing to visit, but, we had good reason, we were visiting Nara. Nara is a nearby city that is very old, and contains a handful of very cool sights. We had picked out three such "sights" that had been highly recommended by both friends and guide books. They all fell conveniently on a little half day walking tour.

this guy trying forcing us to buy his replica deer
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Our first stop was a quick one at Kofukuji, a five story pagoda. It looked cool, but wasn't amazing or anything, still worth a looksy.

Todaiji houses a massive bronze Buddha which is some 15m in height

The next stop though was Todaiji, which is reportedly the largest all wooden structure in the world (and to think the current building is only 2/3's the original size!). Todaiji houses a massive bronze Buddha which is some 15m in height, and weighs over 500 metric tonnes! (trust me, it was big!). I had high expectations of Todaiji, yet I was still blown away by it on countless times. Everything about it was awesome, the guards at the front gate, the HUGE wooden building, the Buddha and the golden statues on either side of it. A very, very cool temple and absolute must see for anyone visiting the region.

a man prays at the entrance to Todaiji
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With the weather not getting any cooler we headed back into the hot sun and started our walk to Kasuga Taisha, apparently Nara's most celebrated shrine. Kasuga Taisha is famous for the many many stone lanterns that line the paths outside and the lanterns that hang inside. Many of the stone lanterns are covered in moss and make for quite an awesome sight. However the "enchanted woods" we walked through to get there were not quite what we had been told. Instead the "pathway through the woods woods" are more of a wide, gravel path with some trees dotted on either side. Still, the shrine was worth the visit, especially if you make your way out to Todaiji.

Karen in front of the entrance gate to Todaiji
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With time bearing down on us, and all of Kyoto still to see, we weren't able to stay around Nara any longer and so had to grab the next train north. Nara, though, had certainly proven itself as a must see stop on any tour of Japan!