Our travel pattern of taking a side trip each day from Osaka to a neighbouring city by train continued on Day 3, with Nara (奈良) being the destination on this day. The Osaka-Nara Kintetsu (近鉄) Rail Pass which we bought at the Kansai International Airport also covered the local Kotsu city bus in Nara.
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| Rail pass for Nara |
Speaking of Nara, the spotted deer may well be the first thing that comes to mind. While some may go to Nara for the sole purpose of seeing (and/or feeding) these famous inhabitants of the city, we found that there were really plenty to see. In fact, the city boasts a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the
Historic Monuments of Ancient Nara, which include several Buddhist temples, a shrine, a palace and a forest. Some of these are within walking distances, such as Kofuku-ji (興福寺), Gango-ji (元興寺), Kasuga Shrine (春日大社) and Todai-ji (東大寺), these being the ones which we visited.
There is no chance of missing the famous deer in Nara Park, which covers quite a large area.
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| Spotting the deer not far from Nara train station. |
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| Kofuku-ji (興福寺) |
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| Kofuku-ji (興福寺): Tokondo (East Golden Hall 東金堂) and Five-story pagoda (五重塔) |
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| Kofuku-ji (興福寺) |
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| South Octagonal Hall (南円堂) at Kofuku-ji (興福寺) |
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| A shop in Nara Machi 奈良町 in the neighbourhood of Gango-ji (元興寺) |
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| Monkey-shaped charms |
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| Gango-ji (元興寺) |
Kasuga Shrine (春日大社) can be reached by walking through Nara Park.
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| Nara Park |
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| Nara Park |
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| One of the popular spotted deer in Nara Park |
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| Kasuga Shrine (春日大社) |
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| Bronze lanterns at Kasuga Shrine (春日大社) |
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| Kasuga Shrine (春日大社) |
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| Visit to Kasuga Shrine (春日大社) |
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| Pond atTodai-ji (東大寺) |
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| Todai-ji (東大寺) |
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| Todai-ji (東大寺) |
It had been a long day of walking and we were glad to take a bus back to Nara train station.
Overview: 6 days in Kansai, Japan
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