We departed our hotel around 8.30am and headed to the city of Nara another ancient city which was once the capital of Japan. The city had many significant temples and artworks and is also famous for the many, many deer which roam in Nara Park and the area adjacent to Todai-ji temple. Rob and I had not visited Nara on our previous trip, so we were interested to see this area. Well, there were certainly many over friendly deer and many people! We enjoyed viewing the Todai-ji Temple which among other things, contained a 15-metre-high bronze Buddha, most impressive. Again, we were trying to avoid the large crowds, but it was almost impossible. With the warm weather we are experiencing and the longish walks from the parking bays to the shrines and temples, some of our group opted out of visiting the temple and sat in the shade. Once we had returned to the coach, we had a short drive back to the city of Kyoto. Here we visited the magnificent Ginkaku-ji Buddhist temple. Rob and I were pleased to be visiting this particular temple again as we could remember how beautiful and peaceful the gardens were and the excellent views of the surrounding area that were on offer from the elevated temple. Our guide explained that from the parking bay, we would need to walk up a narrow street for about 800mt. before reaching the entrance to the area. You then needed to walk up quite a few steep steps to reach the top where the temple was situated. I think many people were put off by this and with the warm weather and the fact that we’d seen many shrines and temples, decided to opt out. I think there was only about 15 of us that braved this walk. The only difficulty Rob and I found, was battling the crowds along the narrow, steep streets. Once we made it to the top, we could enjoy the views, peaceful gardens, and the temple. We reminisced about our last visit and how there were very few people here and you could wander the streets without any issues. Not so now. On the way back to the coach, we found a fabulous little shop where we purchased 2 Japanese steamed buns, filled with beef for lunch. They were delicious but we were quite thirsty and so ordered an apple and pineapple juice, each. Well, they were made for us, full of chunks of pineapple and apple, ice and soda and absolutely delicious! Once we were all back on the coach we had a 3-hour drive to our next overnight stop, Hamamatsu. Our hotel is adjacent to the Hamamatsu castle, and it has been beautifully lit up for nighttime viewing. Once we’d settled into our room we went for a short walk to the local restaurant strip and had a fun night! First, we went to a pizza place with some others from our group. You had to order everything using an online menu and QR code. It was a disaster so the four of us just paid for our drinks and went across the road to another restaurant. Again, we were confronted with a QR code. The owner had no English and then wanted us to order using the QR code and translator, but this was proving difficult. We tried to explain we wanted two bills but there was some misunderstanding, and instead, Rob ended up being served “two beers”. The owner then was just happy for us to point to what we wanted on the menu and brought our food to us. The food was excellent and I think we made a friend for life with the owner of the restaurant.
I’m in Vancouver and heading to Winnipeg. Not busy here! Glad you are enjoying yourself x
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