Tuesday, April 23, 2025

Today I took a lovely day trip from Kyoto, The Thousand Year capital of Japan. I visited the beautiful city and First ancient capital of Japan, Nara. What a gorgeous visit this was.

Today was a rainy day, not heavy, but just a light mist and sprinkles

I didn’t mind it

I had it out from Kyoto on the Kintetsu Limited express train, and reach there about 8:30 AM. 

I had not yet had breakfast as I exited the station. I turned right down that little shopping street. I think it’s called Naramachi. I stopped for the most amazing stuffed French toast and egg pastry delight. Some fabulous cappuccino was the perfect way to start my journey.

Up first on my list of to do and to see is the beautiful and serene Todaji Temple. 

On my way there, I found my first bunch of deer. 🦌 At least I think everyone has heard of the famous bowing deer. They are plentiful throughout Nara. How adorable. Someone was already selling the crackers. One of the deer was quite aggressive and wanted everything I had in my hand.

I know they are wild. I don’t want to encourage them to get excited. I gave them two of my crackers and briefly walked away.

I kept walking to the temple. I came across more deer. Of course, I was sharing my crackers with them. Wow, there are a lot of deer in Nara. They are everywhere. They are picture perfect in the mossy green deep ancient forest settings you come across throughout this gorgeous city.

The Todaiji Temple was great to visit. A word of advice: after you pass the first gate, you’ll see the second gate on your left-hand side. It’s the second gate where the museum is. There is a kiosk that is selling tickets for either the Buddha or for both. Buy it there so that you don’t have to wait in line. This way, you can pick up your ticket quickly at the temple where the Buddha is seated. I would absolutely recommend visiting the museum.

Fortunately, for me, it was so early in the morning that the crowds were very minimal and only a few tiny group started coming

But when I was done with the temple, it was like a sea of people just rolled in.

I took the back roads as suggested, Ura Sando to Nigatsudo oh my stars the walk is so beautiful. Nara is just breathtakingly beautiful And so is this next area of the temples. I think it’s called the February Place or something like that. I should’ve wrote this down.

I did get a little bit lost it. Thank you google maps again for messing with me. You’re a little bit better here. You still mess with me a little bit. It’s OK because I didn’t mind walking through nature.

Pay attention when you’re walking down the forest. When using the handrail, look before you slide your hands down. This way, you won’t knock off the beautiful little snails that are on it. You also won’t disturb the cute little green spider carrying its leaf. The spider might be protecting it from the rain or taking it somewhere. I don’t know where they go. It was such a delight to find these creatures within the forest. They go about their day so beautifully and elegantly.

The smells of the forest and the pathways are so divine.

The wisteria everywhere is just so deliciously beautiful and smell so gorgeous.

After the temple section, I ended up going to this little doll maker that’s kind of close to it. I bought a small, very expensive Kokeshi Doll which is very famous in Nara. They are wooden carved dolls adorned with gold flakes and hand painted with vermilion paint. I bought a pair of Emperor and Empress dolls. They were made by this artisan, who has been doing it for decades. The dolls were crafted from Hinoki wood.

Nara has so much beauty to wonder at. From lush greenery, beautiful brooks and streams, elaborate or peaceful temples and shrines and beautiful hand crafted items that have been passed down through generations of artisan perfection. Here is just a few of the specialty traditional items one can find when visiting Nara: Traditional Crafts

Next on my journey was Kasuga Taisha. Another breathtakingly, beautiful shinto shrine and area adorned with so many lanterns. I think there are 1000 of them.

Everything is so beautiful and dreamlike here. Next time, I would not mind spending an evening or two in Nara

I was starting to get really hungry as it was pushing a little past 1 PM. I took my time visiting all these places, but because of that I almost missed out on lunch.

I took the advice of several amazing experts on TripAdvisor and walk down to the Sarusawa Pond and inn area 

The first place I saw was the standalone restaurant next to a Ryokan called udon Fukutoku restaurant. Oh my God, the food is so good. I watched the Uncle pound the udon noodles with his foot covered. He took the dough out, cut it up, then shredded it. Cook it, and serve it to me. That was definitely a star A+ meal but also worth mentioning was to stunningly delicious tofu that was so creamy. I think I was moaning when I was eating at. The husband and wife team were so sweet and the food was so good. I was in heaven.

The Sarusawa Pond is so pretty. The pagoda looks like it’s absolutely gorgeous but sadly . it is partially covered as they do renovations. 

I then walked down naramachi and did some little shopping and headed back to Kyoto around 4 pm. 

It was a great 8 hour day that should have been a fabulous 2 nights stay. Something to think about for next time. 

Nara is a dream and is so beautiful. I was so filled with emotions. I couldn’t help myself. I cried some happy tears. It just took my soul and caressed it. I could totally feel the mana of this aina, as we say in Hawaii (The power of this land).

I am so grateful for this experience