Japan: Day #20 (October 10, 2008 Friday) Nara

After a morning of rest yesterday, Mom was raring to see Nara today. Her stomach had settled and she was determined to see as much as she could.



We took the JR Shinkansen train at 8:08 AM for the hour ride to Nara. Looking out the window Art took this photo of kids getting ready for an excursion to Nara. Mom explained that fall is a big season for school excursions. We loved seeing the different colored caps.



Dennis and I had fun stamping our journals (we're all keeping one). Many of the important sights have stamps of their special area and people collect them to show they were there. I think for school kids, it's proof to their teacher that they were there.



Good grief! I forgot the name of this temple. I'd ask mom but she fell asleep. She fell asleep before 8:00 tonight!



Nara was bright and sunny and exceedingly warm. We refuse to complain because we're just so grateful that it didn't rain! So far we feel like we've made it from Chicago to our home in Evanston in Illinois without hitting any red lights. Besides that we got to enjoy another soft serve. We had melon and mango this time. There's only a few days left to try the other flavors.



Here we are walking to the Todaiji temple where the Daibutsu resides (Great Buddha). You can see how much Mom walked today.



You could buy snack crackers to feed the deer. Here's a family that started to feed them and encouraged their daughter to do the same. The deer overwhelmed them and they had to escape before the little one got too frightened. We opted NOT to feed the deer.



Art donated some money to this monk who very gratefully gave Art his blessings.



We've taken a million photos of deer! We just couldn't stop. They were everywhere.



I spent a moment in prayer to thank my mother's friend who passed away earlier this year and provided us with some funds because one of her dying wishes was that my mother should thoroughly enjoy this trip to Japan.



Here we are at Todaiji temple which houses the Daibutsu.



The Daibutsu was absolutely awesome! Huuuuge!



This was the Nigatsudo temple. It was huge with a great view at the top.



The only problem was the climb. Mom hesitated just for a moment but when Art said there was a good view of Nara she turned herself around and went right up!



Here is the Bonsho or Bell. It was built in 752 A.D. and is a national treasure.



The Kasuga Taisha Shinto Shrine has a thousand lanterns and is just beautiful.



We loved seeing all the different stone lanterns.



As we were walking through the forest I saw my first snake in the wild. It seemed huge. My mother said it was a shima hebi (striped snake). We took a whole lot of photos of this fine specimen as well. I can't believe Dennis was able to spot it as we walked.



We ate at the same restaurant as last night because the food was wonderful and so was the price. The restaurant is at the train station. Train stations in Japan have fabulous reasonably priced food!

Tomorrow morning we leave bright and early for Hiroshima.