Good evening everyone,
Please excuse the lateness of this post...even though we are back in Australia now...better late than never right?
Ok, so we took a train to Nara. As soon as we get outside the station, we are met with darkness, claps of thunder and lighting striking in the hills nearby. We look at eachother...hell, we didn't come all that way for nothing! So we ran like frightened chickens across the road and to the almost sheltered shops running up the main road that we wanted to walk up.
After making our way slowly up the street, stopping in at shops on the way to stay semi-dry, the rain eased and continued to hike up the hill, passed through a big park, and arrived at the Pogoda's we had come to see. And guess what we were met with....DEER! They seem cute, they really do. Until they see you have food, and then they become nasty mean pushy smelly scary deer.
But anyway, we saw the Pogoda (apparently the biggest in Japan or something), photographed the deer walking amongst the crowd for a while, and then continued our hike to see a big gold buddha housed in a temple that is the largest wooden structure in the world. This temple is a remake of the original that burnt down, and it's only 2/3 the size of the original. Now there were a hell of a lot of deer there too. Little shops sold 'deer biscuits', and we saw a woman feeding some deer, and a buck came up behind her and jabbed her with his antlers in the back to get some food out of her.
At the entry gates to the temple stood 2 very large wooden carved statues. These have recently been restored, and according to many sources, are the best examples of the type in the world. The temple itself had a big garden surrounding it, as well as two Pogodas on either side. The Japanese like thier places of worship big and grand.
Inside the temple were 3 Buddha's. In the entrance there was a massive gold one, and on either side of him were two smaller wooden ones. You could walk around the Buddhas, and behind them were several other statues and displays, and ofcourse, tourist shops.
Here are some piccies -
1. The big Pagoda...and Kez doing what felt right at the time.
2. Ize made a friend..awww
3. Deer Oh Deer
4. The largest wooden structure in the world
5. The awesome carved statues at the entrance to the temple.
Please excuse the lateness of this post...even though we are back in Australia now...better late than never right?
Ok, so we took a train to Nara. As soon as we get outside the station, we are met with darkness, claps of thunder and lighting striking in the hills nearby. We look at eachother...hell, we didn't come all that way for nothing! So we ran like frightened chickens across the road and to the almost sheltered shops running up the main road that we wanted to walk up.
After making our way slowly up the street, stopping in at shops on the way to stay semi-dry, the rain eased and continued to hike up the hill, passed through a big park, and arrived at the Pogoda's we had come to see. And guess what we were met with....DEER! They seem cute, they really do. Until they see you have food, and then they become nasty mean pushy smelly scary deer.
But anyway, we saw the Pogoda (apparently the biggest in Japan or something), photographed the deer walking amongst the crowd for a while, and then continued our hike to see a big gold buddha housed in a temple that is the largest wooden structure in the world. This temple is a remake of the original that burnt down, and it's only 2/3 the size of the original. Now there were a hell of a lot of deer there too. Little shops sold 'deer biscuits', and we saw a woman feeding some deer, and a buck came up behind her and jabbed her with his antlers in the back to get some food out of her.
At the entry gates to the temple stood 2 very large wooden carved statues. These have recently been restored, and according to many sources, are the best examples of the type in the world. The temple itself had a big garden surrounding it, as well as two Pogodas on either side. The Japanese like thier places of worship big and grand.
Inside the temple were 3 Buddha's. In the entrance there was a massive gold one, and on either side of him were two smaller wooden ones. You could walk around the Buddhas, and behind them were several other statues and displays, and ofcourse, tourist shops.
Here are some piccies -
1. The big Pagoda...and Kez doing what felt right at the time.
2. Ize made a friend..awww
3. Deer Oh Deer
4. The largest wooden structure in the world
5. The awesome carved statues at the entrance to the temple.
