It was our second day in Kyoto and we planned to take the train to Nara for the day. There were a number of trains we could have chosen but we ended up on the slow train so it took us 1 hour to get there. Although we had been doing so many steps in Japan it was nice to sit down for an hour! There was also lovely scenery from the train as we travelled through paddy fields.

We began at the tourist information where Tom & Izzy stamped their books and then we walked up the main street to Kofuku-ji which is a complex of Buddhist temple halls and pagodas. We saw the temple but unfortunately the pagoda was boarded up for restorations.

^{Walking through Nara}

^Kofuku-ji

From here we walked a short distance to one of the green areas where we knew there would be lots of deer. We were not disappointed! We bought some deer crackers and then probably spent about 30 minutes feeding them. As they waited to be fed they would bow to you – they had obviously learned that if they politely bowed they received treats!

^{Feeding the deer}

We spotted a Starbucks across the road above a bus station so decided to have a quick break for drinks and cake as it was very hot! Stu and Izzy had iced white chocolate mochas, Tom had a hot chocolate and I had a refresher. We also had honey cake and strawberry pie. It was a lovely Starbucks and we sat outside in the shade next to some wooden statues of deer.

^{A quick pit stop at Starbucks!}

We then wandered through the grounds of the museum where there were lots more deer and headed back to the main road where we watched the deer all cross at the zebra crossing!

^{Deer crossing the road at Nara}

We decided to head to Todai-ji, another Buddhist temple built in the 700’s which contains one of Japan’s largest bronze Buddha statues. The walk took us through woodland where Tom climbed up onto a banked area and was then chased by a deer – we thought he was going to fall off! It was also ridiculously hot so we were stopping at every vending machine to buy more drinks!

^{More deer on the way to Todai-ji}

We entered Todai-ji through the Nandaimon Gate and visited the temple and Great Buddha hall which was filled with massive statues. Tom & Izzy were able to get more stamps for their books but this time the stamps were hand painted and looked beautiful.

^{Inside the Nandaimon Gate}

^{Inside Todai-ji}

It was now about 2.30pm so we decided it was time to head back to the train station and were very grateful to walk through some water coolers!

^{Heading back to Nara train Station}

Izzy fell asleep on the return trip to Kyoto and when we arrived back it was about 5pm. Kyoto Station is absolutely massive and we had wanted to explore but we were very tired so decided that could wait for another day. Rather than walk home and then think about tea we found a ramen restaurant and had an early meal. I had pork ramen which was lovely.

^{Kyoto Train Station}