Ah Nara. The last stop on our Japanese excursion. The last 16-days have been extraordinary. A beautiful country that is extremely efficient (frustratingly so at times). It was an experience full of cultural learning, ups and downs, awesome bathrooms, and swaths of great food. Nara was the proper way to end Japan and it perfectly embodies that Japanese spirit…except for the aggressive ass deer.
For as many rainy days as we had, the weather decided to play nice and we were treated to a beautiful, sunny day. We dropped off our bags at our AirBnB and then we were off to explore. The first stop was Nakatanidou, where they make green tea mochi balls filled with a sweet bean paste. We were hoping to catch the artisans in action. They put on quite a lively show. Unfortunately, they were not making them at that time so we would return later.
Nara Park and Deer
We marched on to Nara Park in hopes of feeding deer and stopping by some of the shrines. One thing you should know about Nara is that it is well-known for being a deer haven. The deer are treated as sacred animals and it is a criminal offense to strike a deer or treat it inhumanely. They are everywhere. EVERYWHERE. I can’t tell you how many times we walked by a deer just sitting in a flower bed almost entirely camouflaged.
You buy deer cookies for 150¥ and you can only feed them these cookies. The deer go crazy for these cookies as Meg found out first hand. Check out Meg getting bullied by the local deer. She tries to fend them off by lobbing full cookies at them. Their antlers are sawed down so they can’t charge and gouge you. Although they can be a little bitey.
Some rules that may be helpful when dealing with Bambi and all of his friends.
Rule #1: Make sure you give yourself enough space to escape the deer i.e. don’t do what Meg did and back into a fence. They’ll own your soul.
Rule #2: Give a deer a little bit of the cookie and walk on. Some tough love. It’s like leaving a crying child to fend for him or herself. Eventually they give up.
Rule #3: Be cordial. Don’t tease the deer by reaching out with food and then pulling back. They won’t bite you and they take the cookie out of your hand pretty delicately. Give them a nice pat for being a good boy/girl.
After feeding the local deer population, we stopped by a local Mom & Pop for some fish. I had some tasty fatty tuna over rice and Meg had cooked tuna over rice. What would be our last Japanese meal.
The Mochi Man
I was determined to catch my mochi guys in action. I just felt that if we went over after lunch we would catch a glimpse of true greatness. Trust your instincts they say. My instincts proved correct and we had a first row seat to pure bliss. I don’t think I’ve had a happier moment in Japan. It was everything I hoped it would be. From the overly dramatic grunts to just beating the hell out of the mochi dough. The dough never stood a chance. I could watch this all day. ALL damn day. Food Network can go pound sand. These are the true Iron Chefs of Japan.
Once we were full of mochi, we went back to the Nara Park to see some of the temples. All of the major temples are conveniently located within the park. First up was the Kofuku-ji Temple. The temple was closed however there was an awesome five-story pagoda to check out.
Todai-ji
The next temple was the Todai-ji. Todai-ji is definitely the Grand Poobah of temples in Nara and hell maybe Japan. It features The Great Buddha Hall, which is a behemoth of a building. Take a look at this beauty.
It was 500¥ to enter, which is worth it just to capture a picture of the temple. You can walk into the shrine and catch a glimpse of Giant Buddha. The place is heavily crowded and there may be tons of school children running around. I’m sure they were taken aback by the scenery as I was. It is definitely worth the visit.
Nigatsudo and Kasuga-taihsa
We rounded out the temple viewings with Nigatsudo and the Kasuga-taisha. Nigatsudo provides a panoramic of the city that is well worth the hike up.
As our day drew to a close, we found it necessary to drop by a 7-11 for the last time. We couldn’t leave without getting a Pizza Man doughball and an Asahi Super Dry Lager. I could eat these for the rest of my life.
So with that we said sayonara to the Land of the Rising Sun. Check out Meg’s post for our overall thoughts on Japan. On to Hong Kong!
Our two-week itinerary in Japan was jammed packed with amazing destinations. Check out our posts on Hakone, Nikko, Kanazawa, Takayama.
