As with every onsen I’ve stayed in this one rotates the gender of the baths periodically, so this morning I had a different outdoor experience that was even better than last night! Surrounding the bath are waterfalls, heavy foliage and even a torii gates (!) and this ambience made my dawn soak extremely relaxing, suitably preparing me for another big day.
Would you believe I saw some deer?
While there were loads of tourists yesterday in the rain, today the sun was out and tourist numbers were bonkers. Even at 9 am when I set out, there were much bigger crowds around the deer than I saw yesterday.
Many deer congregate at the edge of the park closest to the station, since they’ve learned that’s where most tourists first encounter them. What happens is everyone goes agog when they see the deer, lingering and taking many photos, and Mia importantly buying deer crackers! By the time most tourists have continued further into the park the thrill has worn off since there are deer everywhere!
But Nara is more than just the deer, and I explored the shrines and temples of the park today as well. Most of what I saw today I’ve seen before, but as I said it’s been a decade since I was last here so I wanted to refresh my memories. The building above is the famous Daibutsuden – the largest wooden building in the world – which houses this:
That’s Daibutsu, a fifty-foot tall Buddha statue. Over 1250 years old, this is one of the most famous sights in all of Japan. When I was there today I shared the building with what seemed like a thousand school kids, who themselves were only a fraction of the screaming hordes of children that i saw in Nara today. To say the deer excited them was an understatement!
It was starting to warm up after the Buddha, and I observed the deer behavior was notably different from yesterday. While in the rain they were very active, today for them seemed like a rest day and many of them were just loafing.
The boys have impressive antlers right now, and they’re so relaxed you can touch them and they hardly react. The antlers feel flocked and slightly warm. Here’s a macro photo of what one looks like close up:
It’s only the fact that I’m basically a local in Japan that these handsome beasts accept me. If you visit Nara, you’ll want to pay attention to the warning signs:
I headed further east into Nara park and came upon a series of temples built on a sloping hill. These looked ancient and were very scenic and – since I was early and the deer were uncommon here – mostly empty of tourists. The clouds had returned now (it was around noon) and humidity descended like a heavy blanket so I was overjoyed to find a shaded rest house and a drink machine containing a life saving beverage:
When I rose from this brief repose I felt a twinge in my leg. Perhaps all this activity had caught up with me, and I hobbled slightly as I continued on. Providence smiled on me that moment since I came upon a small shrine to a dove spirit, and didn’t hesitate to purchase an ema (wishing plaque) and beseech the god for aid. Here’s my wish:
After only a few steps I thought I heard the flutter of a doves wing and feel my pain immediately disappear almost as if it had never existed in the first place! Maybe wishes can come true!
I saw a lot of babies today, which was interesting because I saw none yesterday. These were favourites of the tourists, and unfortunately I saw a few being harassed by people approaching them when signs (obviously) said they shouldn’t.
And then I purchased an ice cream, and as I was setting up a selfie with a picturesque shrine in the distance (which required me to crouch), this happened:
The sneaky little girl wanted my ice cream! Or maybe she just wanted to be in the photo 🙂
I’m so glad I stayed here. For most visitors to Japan Nara is only a several hour day trip and I doubt many ever return. But I had very fond memories of this place and this stay has reminded me why. If you’re ever in Japan, be sure to come and visit the deer!
Later in the day I went to a nearby mall to visit a ‘Goldfish Museum’, the less said about the better. Fortuitously the mall also had a gigantic Round 1 game center in it, and I happily fed medals into the Monster Hunter medal game for a half hour or so. Apparently my medal game luck hasn’t abated, since for at least half that time I was winning much more than I was putting in and I had visions of walking away from buckets of medals like KLS and I did in January!
As I was about to leave the mall I noticed this sign:
What this?!? They use AI to make (free) stickers of photos?!? I set a land speed record walking to the booth and airdropping a photo to a helpful young man, and in about two minutes he handed me this:
This one is going on a postcard tonight!
It’s dusk now and the tourists are all heading back to Kyoto or Osaka or Tokyo. The shops are beginning to close and (as the hotel girl that speaks some English claimed) the deer are heading to ‘the jungle’! Could it be they are secretly wild beasts who only come to town in the day to be fed by charmed tourists? I’m skeptical, but then I’m also too tired to go out and see if they’re still there after dark.
That’s a quest for the next time I visit Nara 🙂
