Japan 2025! Part 2 (Nara)

After talking about it for five years, and to celebrate our 5th anniversary, my partner and me decided to spend this summer in Japan! This is Part 2, Nara report!

Instead of going straight to Kyoto from Osaka we decided to stay a night in Nara to be able to take things chill. We booked the SMILE Nara hotel was next to the Nara JR station which was super convenient!

Vie de France

I have no self control when it comes to pastry.

Nara is best known for its huge parks as well as many historical buildings. We had our breakfast at VIE DE FRANCE and walked all the way to NAME. I had wanted to rent bicycles to explore the city but apparently bikes aren't allowed in the park, so we did the route on foot instead.

Our day itinerary took us from: Naramachi Koshi-no-Ie (Lattice House) ➡ Kōfuku-ji Yoshikien & Isuien Gardens 🍃 ➡ Tōdai-ji ➡ Wakakusayama Hill ➡ Kasugataisha Shrine ➡ Ukimido Pavilion 🏮

I'm not going to lie, I didn't enjoy Nara as much as I thought I would because the entrance to the Deer Park is super crowded and we saw multiple people behaving badly. I stopped a man who was hitting a doe with a water bottle (and ended up having to call a guard) and many groups were ignoring signs about not touching or grabbing the baby deer to take photos. The deer do approach you for treats, but I had a few packets in my handbag and they left us alone when we put our empty hands up to show them we "had nothing".

There was also quite a lot of more litter than expected and we took plastic wrappings out of the mouths of deer thrice during the day. 

All in all, I think anything to do with animals is usually exploitative and I personally would avoid going next time, or maybe I'd go straight into the primeval forest were its a lot quieter and you can interact with the deer at your leisure.

Tōdai-ji (東大寺)

 

But aside from that, Nara has sooo many interesting temples, shrines, old residences which are very unique. My favourite shrine was one dedicated to ice workers, where you had to rub your fortune in a block of ice to reveal it!

I think the part I enjoyed the most was walking through the primeval forest. I imagine it turns incredible during autumn and the temperatures must be much more bearable to do actual hikes, so I'd love to visit again!

Next stop, Kyoto!

~~Ran