Today we went to Nara on the train... took about an hour from Osaka. Before we left the hotel though the lady behind the desk seemed pretty keen to take us to a tourist info centre two doors down which was set up by some students from a local uni for a month. Since she was so nice and very keen for us to go we decided we better had go. So I went there first to get some info on Nara while Selina and Libby went to get lunch from the supermarket. As soon as I walked in I knew why the lady was sooooo keen for us to go! ....... There were about 10 people inside, most were students and the others were oprating a TV camera!!!!! As soon as I entered the TV camera was on me it and I had to chat to the students for 10 mins until Libby and Selina came and then we got walked to the station by one of the students with the TV camera following us! We didn't ask though if it was for TV or there project! So we might pop up on a Japanese TV channel one day!
Nara was the first capital of Japan so there are quite a few things to see there! We went to see the LARGEST WOODEN BUILDING in the WORLD!!!!!!!!!!! First off though we had lunch by a lovely little lake. Then walked through Kofuku-Ji temple grounds where we saw the second highest pagoda in Japan (possibly the world?!) which has 5 storys (its a little like the one in the photo for this blog except its not red). We also saw the treasure hall and a few other buildings. Then we walked to Todai-Ji Temple .... the largeset wooden building in the world. On the way we saw LOADS of deer. You could buy deer food on the way to the temple and one Japanese woman did this and the deer completely swamped her and started chewing her coat! So we didn't attempt this! Before you get to the temple you pass through the Nandi-Mon which is a huge gate... and inside are two huge Nio Guardians which are basically to very scary wooden carved figures... they we HUGE! See the photos for Selina and Libby's impression of them! Once we got to the Todai-Ji temple we lit some incense and walked inside. And as soon as you get inside you get greeted by a MASSIVE bronze statue of Buddha! Its sooooooooo big .... the 3rd largest in Japan (getting these facts from our very reliable Lonely Planet Japan Guidebook! haha!). Also inside was other large bronze statues and some more scary wooden carvings... not sure what of though! There was also a small hole in one of pillars that support the building. I saw a JApanese guy trying to pull his girlfriend through this hole... It was sooooo funny.... she got a bit stuck but after a good tug from her boyfriends she made it through! So Libby tried it ... but we were unsuccessful at pulling her through. Apparently if you successfully pass through the hole you go straight to enlightment.... or something like that!
On our way back to the train station we stumbled into a Pachinko which is just an amusement ardcade... they are so popular in Japan and are EVERYWHERE! Abnd in here we found a photo booth... but it was no ordinary photo booth! First we had our pics taken where there were about 6 lights on us! I felt a bit like a model! Then thinking our photos were being printed we discovered another booth where you could alter the photos by adding hearts and stars and lots of girly things onto the photos! It was so much fun!

Sarah x