Day 3 and it was time to head off to Nara. It's about 40 minutes from Kyoto by train and is most famous for its deer (see below!). If you know me you know I simply couldn't pass on an opportunity to see some Bambis in the wild (as opposed to the traumatic experience that was Ueno Zoo). This sort of 'Mowgli of the Nara' is something of a symbol for the town (even though he looks creepy - I would not like to wake up to that face!) and he was e-ve-ry-where: pins, keychains, towels, note pads, pens etc etc. Creepy!
Of course we had to go see temples too.
But then it was time for the deer! Oh, right, I forgot - we figured we might try and 'fit in' and so bought a pair of horns each on our way. Then simply walked around the huge Nara Park wearing those. I think we confused both humans and deer.
Nevertheless - they were so cute! About a thousand deer live in the park, and they literally walk around wherever they like! If you're carrying food they'll be all over you, biting, nudging etc, and you can buy senbei (rice crackers) to feed them. Although if you do, prepare to be hunted for the rest of the day by a herd of deer biting your bum (true story)! Me, I was satisfied with petting them a little. So soft and cuddly (well...)!
Scared human. Confused deer.
I also learnt how to take panorama photos with my camera (so expect a lot of them in the future). Pretty, eh?
Bambi!
Some more food: yaki-udon. Like Kyoto, Nara was vegetarian friendly and we even found a vegetarian restaurant! I tried a tofu croquette thing which was so, so good. This here is udon noodles and veggies and some sauce put on a hot stove literally in the middle of your table. Then you eat while it's still cooking! Yummyness.
Next stop: Osaka.
Jo x
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