Reconstitution Vacation: Nara

The final stop on our whirlwind Japanese tour was the city of Nara. We heard it is like a smaller, less crowded version of Kyoto with a high concentration of beautiful temples. In retrospect, it would have been great if we were not so tired and had not already seen a plethora of historical sites. Below is a smattering of photos from around the city.

Small 3 story pagoda in Kofukuji Temple

5 story wooden pagoda at Kofukuji - originally built in 730, most recently rebuilt in 1426.

There were tons of deer in Nara. They were a little too desensitized to people...

beautiful fall colors

Old concrete lanterns leading to the Kasuga Grand Shine on the mountain

There were deer all around

Todaiji Buddhist Temple - biggest one I've ever been in. Seriously - it was like an asian cathedral

inside was a giant buddha

Beware of the aggressive deer!! This man was trying to feed them

The final sight we toured was my favorite - the stunning Isuien Japanese Garden

so tranquil

Before we took the train back to Osaka and packed our bags for home, we ate dinner at one of our favorite restaurants: Coco Curry! It was a welcome change from ramen. The perfect, savory end to a fantastic vacation!

Reconstitution Vacation: Kyoto

It was too difficult to be so close to Kyoto and not return to this beautiful city once more. There is a really interesting district in the city that we didn't make it to last time, so that's where we focused our attention. It's called Arashiyama and lies in the western part of the city near the mountains.

I was determined to see a Japanese snow monkey (in snow or not) before the end of our trip. So our first stop in Kyoto was the wild monkey park on top of a small mountain. We hiked up and up and up... and just when my travel-weary feet were about to give up, we caught a glimpse of an adorable little brown face through the trees. Soon we entered the enclosure for the "wild" monkeys at the summit. There was a building where you could buy some food and feed it to the little critters through some wire grating. They were so polite and would reach their hand out and wait till you handed them a treat. SO japanese... and SO cute!

Then we walked around a little bit and hung out with the dozens of monkeys who were hanging out, sunning themselves and engaging in some public grooming. They really didn't seem to be bothered by our presense, though I was careful to follow the park instructions and never look them in the eye. This was definitely one of the hilights of our trip. I love monkeys!

Next we wandered through some of the shopping districts in Arashiyama looking for lunch. Sadly, the only thing we found that sounded good was ramen. Even though we had that for dinner, we figured we could handle another bowl. SO good. Mainly because it was warm and - although we were so much further south than Misawa, it was still very cold in early November.

Our next stop was the famous bamboo groves. The pathways are lined with massive bamboo shoots and they sound really cool when the wind blows through them. If you've seen the movie Memoirs of a Geisha you've seen them before. Stunning! Below are only a couple of the pictures we took.

Around 5:30 we caught a train to a small village close to where my childhood friend Becca Lauffenburger is teaching english and met up with her for dinner. It was great to see her again - though we had a minute where we had to adjust to the fact that we were seeing each other in a different country. Unfortunately, where we met was a VERY small town and the only two restaurants we could find were McDonald's and - you guessed it - RAMEN! So we had a third bowl of steaming noodles and enjoyed an ice cream cone at McDonald's before returning to our hotel in Osaka.

fun reunion

Reconstitution Vacation: Osaka

Our next destination in Southern Japan was the bustling city of Osaka. It's the third largest and second most important city in Japan, and reputedly the culinary capital of the country. I felt it was important to spend some time there if possible during our time here. However, I found it difficult to come up with an itinerary. We basically had an afternoon in this metropolis and I didn't even know how to scratch the surface of all there is to do. So we decided to intentionally do something different. No historical buildings or temples. Instead we explored the Osaka aquarium, rode the giant ferris wheel at sunset, and then wandered around the neon-lined restaurant and entertainment district called Dotonbori Street until we found a perfect little ramen shop for dinner. Below are some photos!

The aquarium

Feeding the trained seals. We also saw dolphins!

They have a huge tank in the middle of the aquarium with a small whale shark

HUGE manta ray!

mini recreation of the Great Barrier Reef

giant crabs. Super creepy!

Osaka harbor at sunset, seen from inside the giant ferris wheel

At the top!

cool bridge

For some reason there was a giant stuffed Stitch in our car

Giant ferris wheel

Dotonbori Street

this bowl of ramen was SO GOOD after walking in the cold all day

Reconstitution Vacation: Miyajima Island

The next day we took a train and then a short ferry out to Miyajima Island - reputedly the most beautiful spot in Japan. The giant "floating" torii gate in its Itsukushima shiinto shrine is one of the most internationally celebrated symbols of Japan. So, of course, I couldn't pass up an opportunity to take several dozen photos of it!

Funny sign on the train to Miyajima encouraging safety and courtesy

 

One of the unique things about Miyajima is that the whole island is populated with small, tame deer. When we got off the ferry, we were immediately greeted by a handful of these seemingly gentle, sacred creatures. Soon, we would learn that this is just a front they put up... They are cute until they see that you have food and you refuse to give it to them. Then they come after you with reckless abandon. I had one try to steal my ice cream cone. Thankfully I managed to save my ice cream cone, but it stole a postcard I had bought for my grandmother out of my purse and ate it instead. Craziness!

Don't be fooled by this cute face!

James scolding the deer for attacking me. It's not paying attention. It just wants his bottle of CC Lemon.

The deer are a fun but fleeting distraction from the stunning scenery of the island - both natural and man-made. There are so many temples, shops and beautiful hiking trails to explore that we were happily occupied all day.

5 Story Pagoda behind the Senjokaku Buddhist Hall

Side view of Itsukushima shiinto shrine

Us in front of the floating torii gate

After we'd had our fill of temples, we took a hike up to the gondola that takes you to the top of Mt. Misen (the highest point on the island.) The higher we rose into the hills, the more the trees started to turn colors. I love fall in Japan, so I was happy inspite of being a bit winded.

The gondola ride was relaxing. I was surprised how far we rose on that track. The view from the top of Hiroshima across the bay, as well as the neighboring islands was very pretty. I'd read there are supposed to be wild monkeys at the summit of Mt. Misen, but we didn't see any. We were very disappointed!

As the sun started to set, we headed back to take pictures of the torii gate at low-tide. It's pretty cool because you can walk right up to it. I was also surprised to see that the two main posts are made of two trees that were not reshaped into perfectly cylindrical poles. James had a field day with the fisheye. Below are a few of the best pictures we snapped before we went back to the hotel.