Hi again!
Just had a WILD day today!!! I had some pics to upload, but it seems to be giving me an error. Of course, thanks to Blogspot's terrific localization settings, the error comes out in Japanese, so who knows what's actually wrong... :P
Anyway, we started our day with a trip to the Todaiji temple, featuring the world's largest wooden building, which houses an enormous bronze Buddah statue. AWESOME! The sheer size of this place is truly awe-inspiring.
Along the path to Todaiji there are many deer. The deer, considered a sacred animal in Nara, are not allowed to be hunted, and have become very tame. There are many street vendors selling crackers for the deer, and this has taught the deer that we humans are a source of food. As such they will become very demanding as you walk by... one even tried to get its mouth into my pocket in search of crackers.
In a stroke of luck my friend Shiho managed to reach me on my cell phone while we were exiting the temple. Having a few hours before we met up with her, we did the natural thing when killing time... we climbed a mountain. Okay, it was a small mountain, but all the same...
Quite tired after a morning of walking and climbing we met up with Shiho. We grabbed a quick lunch, which was a real treat for me because having Shiho there meant that I didn't have to try to decode the menu. After that Shiho took us on the train to Osaka, which she assured us was a much more happenin' place to be than Nara. She wasn't joking either. We met up with her friend Yuma (honestly, if you're reading this and I've spelled your name wrong I'm deeply sorry.) She took us out to a local festival which involved a lot of drumming and dancing. Some merry-makers we're even up on stage wearing blue and white coats and dancing up a storm. Don't ask me how, but Graydyn, Jay, and I managed to find ourselves amongst those people, decked out in blue and white, and dancing like mad. I've got lots of pictures... you just can't see them.
Anyway, it's about 1:30AM and for some reason I'm in an internet cafe when I should be sleeping. I'll be offline for at least a day, since tomorrow we are heading to a temple on Mt Koya where we will be spending the night. From there it will probably be a trip to Kyoto, where I may be able to find a computer and give you further updates. Until then, take it easy.
3 comments:
good to hear all is well, cause:
what was the deal with the earthquakes??
C&G: Sounds like you are all having a fabulous time. Congrats on the medals--well deserved! G&G are house hunting in Victoria. Will keep you up to date on the outcome. Love ya, AJ
Yeah, I saw some pretty incredible images from the Tokyo earthquake. We didn't feel a thing though, I think we were just too far south.
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