Day 6 - Kyoto, Nara

NARA

"Nara (奈良市, Nara-shi) is the capital city of Nara Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan. Nara was the capital of Japan from 710 to 784, lending its name to the Nara period. The original city, Heijō-kyō, was modelled after the capital of Tang Dynasty China, Chang'an (present-day Xi'an). In 2010 Nara is celebrating its 1300th anniversary as the previous capital of Japan."

It is commonly known as the deer park.

Deers and Kids

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The deers are so tamed and used to the harrassment by people. haha

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Packed with people. The Golden Week!!!

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TODAI-JI

"Tōdai-ji (東大寺, Tōdai-ji, Eastern Great Temple),[1] is a Buddhist temple complex located in the city of Nara, Japan. Its Great Buddha Hall (大仏殿 Daibutsuden), the largest wooden building in the world,[2] houses the world's largest statue of the Buddha Vairocana,[2] known in Japanese simply as Daibutsu (大仏). Sika deer, regarded as messengers of the gods in the Shinto religion, roam the grounds freely."

Entrance to Todai-ji

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Todai-ji - The world largest Wooden building.

To get a perspective of its size, look at the people at the bottom.

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Front View

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Everything is made of Wood.

Impressive!

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Wood

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Huge!

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DAIBUTSU

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Great Buddha of Nara

Great Buddha of Nara, in Tōdai-ji (752), 14.98 metres (49.1 ft) tall. It was made from National Project of Japan. It is part of the "Historic Monuments of Ancient Nara" UNESCO World Heritage Site.

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Lord Buddha

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Ashoka Pillar

It does not look interesting, until I read the plaque below

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Plaque

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"We hope that many Buddhists who pay homage to this monument will follow the path hand in hand to realize human welfare and global peace."

I was really touched.

That's what Buddhism is about -

Unconditional Loving-Kindness and Compassion for All Beings.

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Cute Deer

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Deer

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One of the temples in the complex.

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Rustic Building

To enjoy Nara fully, I had to use my imagination. I imagined ancient Japanese wearing their traditional dresses and wooden-clogs walking down the stairs and heading towards the temple to pray. It was such a nice city to live in with so much greenery.

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A hungry deer waiting patiently for somebody to buy the deer biscuits in the green box (150 Yen).

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Moss on the roof

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JAPANESE FOOD

The Japanese food is delicious, and I have yet to taste a bad Japanese food (if there is such thing). The least delicious food I tried during the trip was a shrimp burger in Mac'Donald. 

I was pleasantly surprised to find this tempura shrimp with rice to be very delicious. It was prepared by an old Japanese Lady, and I ordered by pointing to the plastic display outside the shop.

Satisfied. =)

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LIVING IN A HOSTEL & TRAVELING ALONE

People kept asking if I feel lonely traveling solo. For example: SF's dad could not understand how can I enjoy traveling alone, and I think he kinda pity me. This is my second solo trip, and I enjoyed it more than my first solo trip. To my surprise, I rarely feel lonely during this trip. 

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If I have something to share, I would take a photo or write down my thoughts. There is alot of time to do self-reflection, and I love it. I have lotsa freedom and do not need to compromise. When I like a place very much, I could stay there for 2 hrs. When I hate a place, I will get out in 15mins. I am fine to get lost, as it is part of the experience of exploring new places.

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I am more open to the people and my surrrounding. I do not need to defend or guard myself. I can smile to strangers on the street. I laugh with the people on the street. I talk to strangers.

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I think it is important to stay in a hostel dorm if I am traveling solo. I get to meet other backpackers who are traveling solo as well. We exchange information and get to know each other. 

Tour Club

A very nice hostel that I stayed for 4 nights, and there is free SAKE every evening!

MEETING NEW FRIENDS

Just like my previous trips, I always manage to meet interesting new friends. As for this trip, among the new people I met, E from France is very interesting and I enjoyed talking with him.

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First 2 nights in the hostel was okay. I met some people from Taiwan, China and America. The conversation was okay and cordial. That's about it, nothing interesting.

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On my 3rd night in the hostel, I talked to some Spanish guys and E in the common area. All of them are engineers and I was saying that I got an engineering degree, but I am not an engineer. We were discussing about the various attractions in Kyoto and Japan, sharing our experiences in Japan and how we wish we could interact with the Japanese and understand the culture better. We also joked about the perculiar things in Japan that we did not understand. 

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On my 4th (last) night in the hostel, I was chatting with E and found his experience to be amazing. He graduated at 21 years old (skipping grades), and got his Phd at 24 years old, then he decided to backpack for 18 months in Asia (South-East Asia, India, Nepal, Tibet, Mongolia) until he got no money left and returned to Paris to start working.

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We talked about our experiences in Nepal. I could only trek until around 5,000m because of altitude sickness, and E had climbed in the Everest Region until 7,600m!! He did not have any porters or oxygen tank. He brought his own gears & tent, and food. His friend and him only hired a guide. Respect!!!Then, I realized that he had mountaineering experiences - climbed the Alps and other mountains before.

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We talked about training for mountaineering and endurance sports. Then, he educated me that the training for mountaineering/trekking is very different. He felt that he sucked at endurance sport, as his last marathon timing was 3hr 10min!!! (That's very very fast. That's the qualifying time for Boston Marathon). I realized that he is from a different league.

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We discussed on a wide range of topics. He had been to the places that I wanted to go, for example: Seeing Northern Light in Norway, Visiting Egypt, Israel, Jordan & the remote Western Tibet. He mentioned that despite traveling to so many countries (He was traveling in Japan for 1 month, and would be going to South America for 1 month in November) , he felt that traveling is an addiction that he could not get rid of.

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That's wanderlust!

I could not get rid of it too.

A new friend

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That's another great thing about backpacking and living in hostel.

Meeting interesting people.

Felt so inspired to explore the world =)