Nara

Nara, a lovely little town just outside of Kyoto and chock full of Japanese temples. One of the drawcards of Nara is that wild deer wander the streets and parks. We each had a go at feeding them. A little insistent, one of the deer decided to butt and nip at Nic. This resulted in a lot of squealing and the deer crackers being thrown everywhere with Nic sprinting halfway up the road.



Nic staring down her nemesis...





There were school trips out visiting Nara too. Little people, aged five to eight, would come up to us holding their English practice books and ask us in small groups if they could ask a few questions. After asking our names and introducing themselves in a very formal way, the children would ask our preference of sushi or tempura. At the end of their practise they would shyly tell us they have a gift for us and then hand over some origami shuriken. Possibly one of the sweetest experiences we've had on the trip...





Nara is a very beautiful part of Japan...















Walking through Nara you notice red buckets next to each house. All of the houses are made of wood, packed next to each other like matches. So this is a fairly simple practice in case of fire - and a nice stop for thirsty cats. I liked the simplicity of it all. Bullet trains and fire buckets - Japan is an enigma.