Nara Was Won-deer-ful

The evening before, there was a loose agreement made between myself and Alistair that we would visit Nara together.

I awoke, as usual, before my alarm to some rustling and annoying banter by my inmates roommates. Was it a dream? Did I actually have not one, but many conversations with other human beings last night? I remember a lot of laughter too. Surely not in Kyoto. I have moaned about Kyoto a lot. It's not the place that bothered me. It was the people that took up the space there. I summarised to myself that Tokyo was fast-paced, lively and exciting. The beauty was in its poise and colourful personality. Tokyo screams out "look at me" but in an endearing almost hypnotising way. Kyoto, however, is plain on the outside and you have to delve in further to find its inner beauty. Lonely Planet, in this instance, acts as a smug couple droning on about their frequent holidays - "oh but you must do Kyoto darhling." The people listened and didn't seem to be there to enjoy Kyoto but to "do" Kyoto. Clenched in one hand was the Lonely Planet and the other a list of must-see temples and shrines. I admit I did have one particular site in mind, the bamboo grove, but other than that I was open to any itinerary. I believe that people were so focused on what they must see that they forgot to socialise. Kyoto was filled to the brim with tourists. Familiar faces dotted the streets. Every now and then I tried to smile at them. Not a creepy wide-stretched smile, but a more discreet "hey, we're in the same boat you and me" kind of smile. An inviting but not too intrusive smile. I either got a disgusted response or a defensive "you stay away from my maaaan" look from girls. The only female foreigners I seem to see in Japan have boyfriends in tow. Sheesh.

With that in mind, I wasn't too sure what to expect from Nara, or whether I was venturing there alone. I would be heading on to Osaka after Nara so checked out and dumped the beast in the corner of reception. Alistair was not there but I was early so decided to check my emails and wait a while. Shortly after Alistair arrived and also checked out. I went up to greet him and the receptionist saw that we were heading off together and asked if she could take a photo of us. I chuckled under my breath. Last night we all joked about the photos that chain hostels have up on their walls. Everyone is having a good time. In our bitterness we seethed and proclaimed that it must be a conspiracy. We had to eat our words and somewhere on Facebook is a photo of us gurning. If we look happy, it's only because we were leaving Kyoto and The Room of Despair!

I felt completely ridiculous stood next to Alistair with his small rucksack. He kindly offered to carry my bag before adding cautiously "I'll take one of those two bags (in your hands). I'm not carrying the monster". Because I have spent the majority of my stay with guys, I find myself inadvertently gauging their reactions to certain social situations. This moment being one of them. I offloaded a bag and was thankful for the shedded weight. Nara was a simple train ride away and it wasn't long before we entered the station and was cornered by a chirpy English speaking local. Disorientated and not quite sure which exit to take, said chirpy lady tried to sign us up to a free tour. We escaped, just. I had already booked a hostel and Alistair managed to get a room there and then so, with our luggage safely deposited, we set out to see what Nara had to offer.

We both needed food, and fast. We settled for okonomiyaki.

 

I had the three mini ones

For dessert we both demolished a blueberry ice cream cone. Alistair took on the lead role as navigator. I happily took a back seat and simply followed his lead. As we began to head to the park and up to the temples and the big Buddha, we both noticed the jazz music being pumped on to the streets. This carried on into the night and was a quaint and slightly uplifting character trait of Nara's. It showed that they had a personality at least!

Before we knew it, Alistair and I were surrounded by deer. I was really excited and went in for a closer look. I didn't realise that the deer get violent. One bit my bum! Alistair too received a lot of attention but he was holding the deer biscuits. We both paid 150 Yen for some biscuits. Alistair got one and a half packs. I got 5 discs. I didn't realise how much I'd been short changed until later on. Obviously the old man wanted me to get attacked by hungry deer.

 I saw this warning. Little girls and old ladies beware!

I took many photos of deer. Here is a selection:

 Getting the deer in shot is harder than you might think!

Alistair received a lot of attention in one particular area!

We tried to leave but the deer were having none of it.

We nursed our nips and bruises and ploughed on to the next destination. I had no idea where we were going but knew that there'd be a big Buddha around somewhere...

Maybe in here perhaps...?

The building has a face

Oh there it is

Tourists seemed to be swarming around this interesting looking sculpture. Upon closer inspection, I saw that this is a statue of Yakushi Nyorai. It is believed that if you place your hand on this statue and then upon an ailment on your body, it will then be healed.

Kamakura. I'm guessing because it is bigger. I must say that bigger doesn't necessarily mean better. I actually preferred the Daibutsu in Kamakura. Not just because you could go inside, but I think because it wasn't cooped up inside a building, you could truly see its stature against the skyline.

I again failed to control my sweating and felt like I was about to melt away. I needed to rest more and more and soon had to call it a day. We saw some interesting parts of Nara so the day wasn't wasted. We went back to the hostel, freshened up and debated on where to go for dinner. The receptionist and perhaps owner of the hostel was incredibly helpful and spoke English very well. Alistair made the mistake of informing her that he was staying in Tokyo on a scholarship. What then transpired was an awkward moment where it was assumed that Alistair spoke Japanese. It is one of those - you had to be there moments - but gave me ample piss-taking-fodder for the rest of the evening.

Every day I keep saying that I've had the best meal of my stay. By some miracle, Japan continually impresses me with its array of delicacies and extremely high standards. I haven't had a bad meal here yet. My evening in Nara was no exception. We shared exquisite sashimi, some eggy rice thing and a pasta dish with chorizo. I had an awesome melt-in-the-middle chocolate pudding with real vanilla ice cream and a splodge of whipped cream for dessert. I struggled to move after that meal. My stomach churned with joy.

Nara was over all too quickly and it was off to Osaka for me and back to Tokyo for Alistair.

It was at this point that I met my first minor travelling regret. I was only in Osaka for one night and wished I had more time. I was influenced by the words in Lonely Planet and the agreeing nods online that said that all there is in Osaka is a castle and an aquarium. I felt that half a day was enough. Unfortunately I was wrong. Osaka has a throbbing night life and kuidaore - eat until you drop - is their motto. This is the perfect balance and the social scene I have been craving since Tokyo!


I decided to take the train to Namba and find a nice bar to have dinner at and a few drinks. I was hoping to strike up a conversation with some randoms and see where the night takes me. I didn't get off to the greatest of starts. I arrived a bit early and most of the bars didn't open until 6pm. I decided to wander about. This was my first error. I thought I could get back to the same position as before by going through the underground passage. My next error. For some reason, no matter how far I walked in either direction, I always ended up in the same spot when I went above ground. It was freaking me out. I already ear-marked a bar I wanted to try and was determined to get back to where I was before. I later gave up and searched for something nearby. I saw a large neon-lit Great Britain flag and thought I'd hit the jackpot. I crossed the road only to find that it was a tie shop...and it was still open! I started to get a bit annoyed as I really wanted food. Somehow I managed to get to the bar I wanted to enter. The photos showed that the tables all linked together so I thought it'd be perfect to meet people. I went upstairs only to find that there was no room at the inn. Damn. I wandered around aimlessly trying to find open arms but was too overwhelmed by the choice.


In my laziness, I saw an Irish pub and thought there might be some tourists and English speaking locals there so ventured in. I met a beautiful bubbly girl called Sakura. Her English was very good. We talked about a lot of random subjects and joked about my ineptness in Japan. Sakura bought me a jager bomb which was nice of her. I merrily skipped on home after my beverages and curry. I felt revived after my transfusion of social interaction. I feel I am ready to relax in the mountains. Koya San awaits...