Nara

We bought a ticket on Kintetsu-Nara which would bring us from Osaka Namba to Kintetsu-Nara station. The fare was ¥180 from Daikokucho to Osaka Namba, and thereafter ¥560 from Osaka Namba to Kintetsu-Nara. We did not want to use our KTP because we were saving it for Kyoto, our next stop.

We had to stand all the way in the train, which was fortunately not far. As soon as we reached Nara, we headed to the Information Centre - where I picked up a walking map of Nara. Now, the staff here was super friendly. She spoke good English and showed us how to get to our hostel in Nara ... and also recommended to me the 4 must-see places in Nara which were within walking distance.

We dragged our bags out the station ... and we actually went the wrong direction! After what it seemed like about 1km, we realised that we got our directions wrong. It was frustrating ... so we turned back. After a while, we found our hostel, Route 53 Nara. There wasn't anyone at the hostel but we could hear someone on the phone upstairs. So we called out our greetings ... and after about 10 minutes, a young man finally came downstairs.Check-in was at 4.00 p.m., but we could leave our bags at the foyer. Phew. Now, we could go sightseeing.

Nara boasts of many UNESCO World Heritage Sites. It was the capital of Japan from 710 to 784, and today, the historical monument provide an insight to those times in the 8th century. These sites include an archaeological site (the Heijo Palace Site), five Buddhist temples (the Tôdai-ji, the Kôfuku-ji, the Yakushi-ji, the Gangô-ji and the Tôshôdai-ji), a Shinto shrine (the Kasuga-Taisha).

And so we visited ...

Gango-ji

Founded in the 6th century as the first Buddhist temple in Japan

Kofuku-ji's Five storey pagoda dated back to 7th century; this one was rebuilt in the 1426 after it had burned down 5 times; and today is a symbol of the city of Nara

Nanendo or the South Octagonal Hall at Kofuku-ji

Tokondo or the East Golden Hall at Kofuku-ji

Nara is special because there are so many Sika deers roaming around freely. 

Sika Deers
Well, the deers were considered sacred as one of the Gods of Kasuga Shrine appeared riding a white deer. Up till 1637, killing a deer was a capital offense. Today, the deers were considered national treasures and protected as such.  

Deer crackers sold for ¥150
One tourist tasted the crackers and deemed them tasteless. Lol! Well, the deers liked them. :P

I saw the Cremia ice-cream being sold so I bought one to eat ....

Cremia, ¥500 and a Sika Deer at the back
Cremia is a premium soft-serve ice-cream, also known as softcream. Indeed it did not disappoint. It was superb. Read here for the details.

Next up, was Todai-ji Temple .... "very famous in Nara", the lady at the Information Centre told me that morning .... 

Nandaimon Gate

Todai-ji could not be seen from the outside and we did not go inside to see the Giant Buddha relic. We merely hung out at the grounds ....

Not going inside to see Todaiji and the Giant Buddha Relic remained the biggest regret for me today! Sigh.

Walking towards Kasuga Shrine ...

And we were done in 3 hours and it was time to eat. My friend ME wanted to try the kaiten sushi .... so we found one outlet just outside the Kintetsu-Nara station. These were some dishes that we ate .... 

I ate 6 platters of assorted sushi, which was a lot more than I expected. It's because the ball of rice in each nigiri was tiny and did not actually fill me up. The fresh ingredients were indeed good quality - so sweet and delicious! So those 6 platters cost me ¥1512.

¥150

This was just a normal taiyaki with pancake pastry; there were different fillings and I went for the one with the traditional adzuki beans ... this one does not taste outstandingly delicious ... 

Nakatanidou Mochi 

This shop attracted a lot of customers because of its mochi-making demonstrations ..... 

Lol! Pretty dramatic; the mochi-pounding process is known as mochitsuki

So I bought 1 piece to try ... 

Yomogi Mochi, ¥130

Mochi is made from glutinous rice, beaten till it becomes soft, smooth and chewy ; this one is green in colour with the addition of yomogi, a species of mugwort that's supposed to give the mochi a refreshing taste

Yummy! 

This shop also sells rice crackers ...

Rice cracker - I think this one is red perilla & ume flavour ....

We went back to our hostel and checked into our little room with 2 bunk beds. Actually, Route 53 Nara was really easy to get to. Just exit Kintetsu-Nara, and walk along the long covered shopping arcade called the Higashimuki Shopping Street. The covered walkway spans a few streets, passing by Daiso and McDonald's on the right. There's a supermarket and a church you will pass by on the right. Just walk till you pass a radio station on your left ... and then immediately turn into a small alleyway. At the end of the alleyway, turn right and you will find Route 53 Nara.

Later that night, we came out for a walk. I needed to make a phone call to our hostel in Kyoto because I wanted to get the access code to the building so that I could deposit my bags there before check-in time. We got to the public phone at the Kintetsu-Nara station and tried to call many times ... but it did not get through and I could not understand the Japanese instructions at the other end of the line .... so we went inside to the Tourist Information Centre .... and a kindly and friendly gentleman there helped us make the call. I got the access code in no time.

We hanged out at the shopping street for a while ... going in and out of shops ..... before retiring for then night.