Nara and Uji

We were up early today to get to our tour which was taking us to the former capital city of Nara, a World Heritage Site. We had a quick onigiri breakfast and hopped on the tour bus. Our guide, Tommy, shared a lot of interesting facts along the way. For example, we passed Fushimi Castle, which was built by a famous samurai in 1592 because the samurai class ruled Japan from the 12th century onward (it was ruled by emperors before that). Nara was built by emperors and they had a more elaborate style than the later-ruling samurais.

Our first stop was Kasuga Temple and it was built in 762. It is famous for its stone lanterns. It was seen as a place of protection for the Fujiwara family, a family that controlled politics. The Temple is protected by a deer-riding deity who is apparently very good at martial arts. The lanterns are lit every August 13th as that’s when Japanese people celebrate their version of Day of the Dead. Then we walked over to the famous deer park! Deer wander the town during the day, but they like to eat the grass at the park. You can buy a package of rice crackers to feed the deer, and if you bow to the deer, it will bow back. Anyone who has a dog will understand how this feeding of the deer can go wrong! The deer are smart and know when people have bought crackers, so they will absolutely swarm you. Having trained two dogs, Brad was quite good at keeping the hordes of deer at bay and I managed to get a cute video of a deer bowing with Brad!

Our last stop in Nara was Todaji Temple. It is one of the largest wooden buildings in the world and it houses a wooden Buddha that is 49 feet tall! We have seen a lot of Buddha statues, but this one made of wood was still really neat to see in person.

Back on the bus, we drove to Uji. We had lunch in Uji and enjoyed some tempura, tofu, rice, duck, and assorted things like tofu skin and the little egg omelette. It was a really nice group meal! We also got coupons for $1 off matcha ice cream, so obviously we also got a matcha ice cream cone! Uji is home to hand-picked matcha tea leaves and the UNESCO World Heritage site of Byodo-in Temple. It features the famous Phoenix Hall, which was constructed in 1053. If you could see an aerial view of the temple, it is in the shape of a phoenix! We were able to see a lot of artifacts and replicas in the temple’s museum, but we weren’t allowed to take any photos. This was such a bummer because the ornamentation was so incredible!

After the Temple, we walked to Uji’s oldest tea shop (allegedly dating back 500 years) and met with the 16th generation matcha maker. We also met his son (the 17th generation) who seemed a little less pumped about matcha than his 71-year old dad did! Anyway, we learned the tea ceremony rituals and then whisked our own matcha, which was way harder than it looked! We enjoyed our tea with a couple sweets before doing a bit of shopping in the area. It was finally time to head back to Kyoto, but we really enjoyed the entire day tour and our guide!

We were dropped off at Kyoto Station, so we were able to catch a bus to take us “home.” Feeling pretty worn out, we decided to grab a quick bite near our hotel. Lucky for us, there was a handmade udon noodle restaurant very close and they still had noodles left (they only make so many a day and then close when they run out). We shared a cold udon noodle dish with tempura chicken and a hot udon and beef curry dish. It was a tiny little shop with only two people working, but it was so delicious and the people working were lovely!

Tonight we need to do laundry and make a few bookings for meals and trains, so nothing more from today!Read more