Kyoto and an excursion to Nara - Japan at Cherry Blossom 2023 - 9
24.03.2023 - Kyoto and an excursion to Nara
Weather: overcast sky
Walking distance: 18 km
Today I have a full program. Officially the plan for today is to visit Nara. But we will meet only at 9am. That should give me enough time to visit the Fushimi Inari shrine [↗] beforehand. As this is one of the touristic highlights of Kyoto, I need to be there very early anyway to get some undisturbed shots.
I get up even before the alarm rings at 5:15am, take a shower and go to the station. Of course, the train to Nara, which I have to take even now, has just left and so I am at the shrine around 6:20.
At that time I'm not alone but for the most part, people are not standing in the way. So I'm able to get my intended pictures already at the lower end of the stairs. At this time of the day, even the cats are asking for some strokes.
I start the climb up the mountain, but at some point, I realize that I keep taking the same shots again and again. So at 7am I turn around halfway up. That was a good decision as on the way down are dozens if not hundreds of shrines offering more motives.
This is the best temple so far. Not only because of the torii gates but for the atmosphere and variety plus because I'm alone at most places, especially at the shrines on the way down.
I could continue from here to Nara [↗], but the train would take 60 minutes because it stops at every station. So I go back to the hotel, eat the breakfast included here, and meet the group at 9am to take the first express train to Nara. The fast trains save you some 20 minutes, so it takes 45 instead of 67 minutes.
On the way, a young Japanese woman wants to practice her English. The pronunciation is quite ok, but she clearly lacks vocabulary. Google translate helps 🌝.
In Nara, we get a map and walk as a group for a while before splitting up.
First temple is the Kofuku-ji [↗] which is free to visit if you don't want to go inside the hall. Here we also see the first of the famous Nara deer that will accompany us through Nara Park [↗] and all the temples around. They are conditioned to beg for food (you can buy special food at various places for 200 Yen). They even bow when begging for food, and if they got something from you, they may follow you for a while. They have even learned to use the crosswalk - only the thing with the pedestrian traffic light needs to be improved 🌝.
In general, they are very friendly and you can pet them, but you shouldn't fool them (like some members of an Asian group who thought it's a good idea to place the food on their heads). It's said that they sometimes take your map or other papers for food.
We walk through Nara Park with more deer to the Yoshikien Garden [↗]. A small, nice garden that is free to visit, too. At the moment not much is blooming, so we quickly leave. For the same reason, no one is interested in going to the neighboring Isui-en garden, which is otherwise also supposed to be nice but costs 1200 yen.
From here we walk to the Todai-ji temple [↗] where we part. The temple hosts a huge Buddha. It's the first really impressive Buddha temple I see here in Japan even though it's by far not as colorful as the ones in Myanmar or Thailand.
Before I leave the area I take a look at the buildings further up a neighboring hill. Very different with nice details to photograph.
Through a forest, I'm now heading for the Kasuga-Taisha shrine [↗]. Already on the way I see nice, weathered steles and lanterns with moss. The shrine is famous for its large number of lanterns. I'm able to take some photos from the outside, where is much more to explore so I don't go inside.
From here I walk back through Nara Park and the city towards the station. On the way, I grab a coffee and something sweet at a Family Mart as it's close to 3pm and I skipped lunch so far. This time I arrive just in time to catch the train back to Kyoto.
On the way there I think about what else I could do in Kyoto and decide to go to the To-ji temple [↗] because it is located south of the station and I probably won't make it there tomorrow. I arrive there just a few minutes before 5pm what is the closing time. So I can just shoot a couple of pictures from the parking lot. At least there were few people still on the premise.
After a brief dinner in a kind of restaurant arcade at the station (meat and fish skewers - quite ok but not as good as the fish yesterday for the same price), I go to the main hall of the station for some blue hour photos. I want to photograph the Kyoto Tower from a higher vantage point. It looks okay, but nothing special. But as it gets darker, they then start a light show on the grand staircase and later I even find an illuminated walkway from one side of the station to the other.
