Day 74 - Thursday March 28, 2024, Nara, Japan

All Aboard: 17:30 Departure: 18:00

After an exhausting day of touring, we are up early again for a journey to Nara on the other side of Kyoto. Our friends Jean and Pete will also be along with us. The decision is to take the bullet train in both directions along with return tickets on a feeder train to Nara. The return trip to Nara takes two hours and our bullet train from Kyoto was booked for 14:00 so there is not much time to explore Nara.

We leave the Nara Train Station in search of Nara Park with its deer and the Tadai-ji Temple. I was not expecting to see as many deer as were in the park. They have become rather tame and are not startled by the crowds of people that come to the park.

Vendors are scattered throughout the park selling cookies which the sika deer will generously accept from you. I have pictures of Janice bowing to the deer who does so likewise before Janice will give them a cookie.

We continue our walk to the Todai-ji Temple managing around crowds and deer as the same time. Here we purchase tickets to the Great Buddha where you enter the hall to see this massive statue weighing some 500 tonnes with a height of 15 meters or 49 feet.

We do not have time to explore the museum so we return to the train station after needing a bus and taxi to get us back.The taxi was needed as we got off the wrong stop.

We are now back on Insignia; our next port of call Hiroshima is only 168 nautical miles away. A viator has been booked, I can only imagine that the day will be rather somber in nature.