Nara

After Kyoto we took the train over to Nara. The hostel wasn't open until 4:00pm, which was a little disappointing, but we were able to leave our stuff by the door in a small room. From the outside we were afraid it was going to be kind of a hole in the wall place, as it was on the 4th floor of some random building and didn't necessarily leave an impression on the outside. As we found out though it was actually quite nice; the proprietor spoke really good English with very little Japanese accent. The room was nice, with bunks for everyone and a small computer with internet.

First thing we did was take the train into the main area of Nara, where there are tons of deer just wandering around and which are so domesticated that you can just walk up and pet them. You can also buy deer crackers there to feed them, or frankly just feed them paper, although you're not supposed to for obvious reasons. It's kind of weird - the people sell deer crackers right out in the open, and they're just sitting right out where the deer could take them, but they never do. They will chase people around who have them, but apparently the deer also do not believe in stealing here. Nara is like elementary school and middle school field trip paradise, so there were tons of kids there, who loved getting chased around by the deer. I think we went to a place called Daishokuji, whichwas a big temple and a big pagoda. I guess on the inside there's a big 6 armed buddha or something, but I didn't go in because you have to pay. Afterward we walked over to what I guess was the biggest wooden building in Japan, or maybe just the biggest wooden temple, which you could see from a long way away. There are even more deer on the way up there, and progressively more souvenier shops. I paid the 500 yen to go into it - I don't remember the name but it undoubtedly starts with dai and probably ends with ji - and there is a really huge awesome buddha, as well as some other pretty impressive statues. There are also impressively large souvenier shops, of course. Then we got caught for a little while in a torrential downpour under a huge gate with hundreds of Japanese middle and elementary schoolers.

Then we went back to the hostel and met the proprietor and everything. Garrett made some yakisoba, and I made some ramen for myself. We met an Italian buddhist who was really cool and fun to talk to. Then after getting a little strong we stood out on the balcony and talked to the guy who owned the place for awhile. He told me I have really good pronunciation in Japanese, which was actually probably a legitimate compliment, rather than the usual "jyozu desu ne" that they give you here. I swear even if you only spoke English you would think your name is Jyozu from how often you get that meaningless compliment. Anyways I asked him whatI should do to improve my skillz, and he said I should read children's books and watch children's TV, which is probably good advice. Next morning we were going to go visit some more stuff in central Nara - actually just climb this hill up to a shrine overlooking the city, which was really pretty. The hostel owner actually drove us over there which was really nice of him. After the shrine we walked over to a "great" shrine, maybe taisenji or something like that. It was basically a bazillion stone lanterns and some gates, but I guess it's on the international list of human cultural artifacts. We were getting a little tired of walking after that, so we went and got our stuff back and took the train to Osaka.

Overall I would say Nara was one of my favorite places in Japan so far, although it is quite touristy. But it was very beautiful and I loved the atmosphere and the deer. The temples were also quite impressive and didn't take too much legwork to get to.