Finally Nara!!
Although I spent the first half of the day in Kobe, I still had enough time to explore part of Nara park.
As this is only half a day (even less than that considering that after 5pm everything is closed) there are only a few photos this time.
I hope you enjoy this entry nevertheless. ヾ(´▽｀;)ゝ

Nara - Day 1 (January 4th, 2010):



One of the first things I saw on my way from the Nara Kintetsu St. to the park. Quite scary deer, huh?
And they really were! You can buy "shika senbei" (~ deer rice crackers) and feed it to them, but some of them become kind of aggressive once you run out of food and attack your backpack and stuff
Luckily their horns are being cut to protect tourists XDDDDD



If you come from the Kintetsu St., then Koufukuji (興福寺) is usually your first stop (I passed by there at least 5 other times after that on other days XDDDDDD).
That first day there were a LOT of FOREIGN tourists!!! I think I've never seen so many foreign TOURISTS anywhere else! Maybe I'll get a real shock when I go to Kyoto in SPRING this year XD
I went into Tōkondo (East Golden Hall) (東金堂) which you can see on the left on this photo. The entrance fee was quite high, but the inside was full of statues and artefacts, so it was very interesting. I also bought a book with illustrations of the statues and explanations (well, actually 2 books, one in Japanese and one in English ^^; .....) - because it was interesting, but you weren't allowed to take photos of the inside.
In general, I had the feeling that Nara was kind of touristy and thus expensive (entrance fees etc.)



This is one of the most famous 5-store pagodas in Japan (although we have one in my city as well, but it's not as famous ;o; ...)



Please note that in Nara almost everything is a National Treasure or a World Heritage XD



It was already past 3pm when I arrived at Kintetsu St. in Nara, so I was well aware of the fact that I wouldn't have enough time to explore all the sightseeing spots in the park before they close (5pm).
I decided to take my time and explore everything slowly and thoroughly. It was only my first day in Nara anyway :)
Most tourists are really rushed because they do Nara on a day trip from Kyoto (^-^'')





And then I was already on my way to Kasuga Shrine (wanted to arrive there somehow before 5pm XD)
This was the only time I went there, though. I wish I have had more time to go there again (maybe during daytime and not during sunset time XD)



Kasuga Taisha is famous for its many stone laterns that lead the way to the main shrine. And there wre really MANY!! (O_O*)



Sake barrels.



And after walking for QUITE a while (I always stopped to take photos of random deer XD I also was attacked by some hungry ones ... I wonder where the photos of those went, but don't worry there will be enough photos of deer in the next few entries XD) I finally arrived at the Shrine.



There was something like a "lovers' path" kind of thing if I remember that correctly XD





The sun was already gone, so the photos are kind of crappy, sorry! ;o;





Oh look, some deer! (actually they were EVERYWHERE! XD)



Wah! Scary! XD Btw. anybody knows "Shikaotoko Aoniyoshi " (jdrama)? I tried watching it before I went to Nara, but I didn't really like it, so I only watched the first 2 episodes XD
As it was already getting dark, I decided to go back to the station. Everything and I mean EVERYTHING closes at 5pm anyway. I also asked about huge department stores that would be open a little bit longer, but it was really difficult as Nara is INAKA!!!!! XDDDD
Harrharr!



And that was my dinner: Tonkatsu, some filled with cheese! Super yummie, but almost too much this time (x___X) ... *lol*



Wow, that was ... kind of short (^-^')> I could have posted photos of day 2 as well, but I kind of want to keep the days separate, hope you understand.
Hope you're looking forward to a longer Nara entry with more photos.
TBC!

(つ∀-)ｵﾔｽﾐ❤