We had a planned early start today to travel to Fushima and walk up Mount Inori. A better night left us more rested but still slow to get moving, so we weren’t up and out until gone 8am. Our plan was further hampered by an accident on the Keida line leaving us stranded without a train. Like the troopers we are, we changed plan and told Google maps to find us a bus: which it did. User error meant that we got on the wrong direction so then there was a bit of a frosty atmosphere for a while. Ironically that bus service is a loop so we could have gone the other way around, but we didn’t realize that until later.
We did get to see a cormorant on the river while we waited, so every cloud…
We finally made it to the JR line and onto the Nara line, but by this point it was 10.30am and any hope of a cooler and less crowded walk had fled.
It was hot and busy at the bottom, but clearly not everyone is made of such stern stuff as us as the top was pretty quiet. It took just over an hour to ramble along under the hundreds or thousands of red gates and up the steps to the top, and we poured with sweat the whole way. It was pleasantly shaded under the trees and much cooler than on tarmac, but any kind of exertion makes your body leak all over.
Keith took hundreds of photos with annoying and impatient tourists popping a foot or head into them. I think he managed to get one or two that he liked but a lot ended up on the cutting room floor!
The way down was much quicker and we hopped on a return train just before lunch. Inari is a local stop, which means that the express doesn’t stop there. We had to go back to Kyoto station to swap to a faster train, but this meant that we could slurp ramen in air conditioning again so that was fine by us!
I braved some exciting rice crackers on the train to Nara and everyone tried the fish. Only I liked them: they were sweet and chewy, but the rest of the crackers were lovely.
Tim’s description of Nara left me a bit cold given it was an hour’s train ride away and TripAdvisor wasn’t that much more inspiring. We are obedient to the instructions however and set off on the train ride. An hour there and back in nice cool air conditioning was reason enough for me, but when we got there I was blown away.
There is a tourist loop bus that Google maps doesn’t know about (we thought we would have to walk!!!) and we hopped on that to get round to the Todai-ji temple. Just before the stop, the children noticed some of the famous Nara deer. They wander into the road with no fear at all (the deer, not the children). We managed to get off at the right bus stop and walked through the park and through the deer poo to get to the shrine (remember the poo- it features later!).
You go through a massive gate (still surrounded by inquisitive deer) and walk up to another massive building. Well, actually it is another gate, but because you can’t see through it and the tour leads you around to the left, you emerge on the other side and get slapped in the face by the size of the actual temple. Both Keith and I stood with our mouths open at the extent of it, but then it is the largest wooden building in Japan – so large as it contains the largest statue. I hope the photos do it justice. We purified as is customary and then climbed the steps. Directly in front of you is an enormous Buddha carved from wood. I think his hand would easily be taller than Keith. Either side of him are two gold covered guardian deities that would be huge in their own right.
Danny’s favourite bit was a staircase/ladder leading up to the second level. Thank God we weren’t allowed up there. Mila’s favourite bit was going to be the hollow pillar that she wriggle through, but then she found a stuffed deer that poos. Nuff said.
The views back from the temple towards the middle gate were spectacular and of course there were the requisite Koi swimming in a pond.
I was a bit depressed about the deer by this point. There were carts selling cakes that you could feed to them, but if anyone bought them they got mobbed. We saw a grandma bashing a deer on the nose as it pestered her small, screaming granddaughter who was clutching a plastic bag with a cake in it. We saw kids teasing the deer with bits of cake and then running away. All in all it felt a bit exploitative and I got a boo on and wouldn’t let the kids buy food. I also have concerns about what is in the cake?! I would like to presume it is nutritionally balanced to keep the deer healthy. They looked ok and had lots of babies.
The heat was unpleasant and our legs were tired so we hopped back on the loop bus to Nara station. Here I was allowed my first proper Japanese supermarket experience although it was rushed as we didn’t want to miss the train. We bought recognisable fruit, bento boxes for tea and various bits for breakfast tomorrow.
We did make the train even after captain worrywart declared it was impossible and then sat back to enjoy our lovely air conditioned trip.
The only exciting thing that happened on the return journey (apart from some bento box leakage) was the sight of a double decker carriage on a train going through the platform. Epic.
It was quite a relief to get back, showered and fed at a reasonable time tonight. Danny told us today that this holiday is exhausting. I think we all agree- magical with wonder everywhere, but exhausting!