Kyoto Day 3 I love deer!!!

When my daughter scoured the map of Kyoto and asked me, "Mom, would you be interested in taking a train to Nara to see the deer park? I hear the deer bow to you for treats."

My response, "Girl, do you NOT know your mother?!"

I then apologized to Herb for all the 'baby talk' that was sure to fly out of my mouth for the day. I can't help myself.  My voice naturally goes up an octave when I see deer, or any critter for that matter- especially baby critters.

I blame my grandma, and my mother after her.  We Kiester women love animals, deer in particular.  When I see one- in a woods, across a field, running across the road in front of my car- I ALWAYS get a thrill. (Some thrills are better than others). It never gets old to see a deer, any deer. 

I. WAS. ALL. IN.

I layered up in all the clothes (it's cold in Kyoto in December!) and we caught the bus back to Kyoto Station to purchase our train tickets.  I was like a kid on Christmas Eve at the prospect of Japanese deer bowing to me for treats :)

I enjoyed the view from my window seat on the train.
I wonder what big river that is?

We arrived in Nara and there was some sort
of parade and festival in full swing. Adult
groups, children's groups, all dressed and
chanting or marching in the parade.
Look at these two cutie patooties :)

We purchased some street treats,

for ourselves,

before purchasing cookie treats for the deer :)
The deer roam freely throughout the town of Nara, and the city park is where they often congregate. I couldn't choose my favorite photos, so let me indulge for a bit...

I am not the only one who 'baby talks' the deer :)

...true to Ellie form, she had to try and control the deer, lol.

Everybody wants SNACKS!

This man on the bicycle then showed us how to get the
deer to bow to us- right arm up. You bow, and they'll bow :)

so sweet :)
and so much fun!

More than 1000 deer freely roam the park and city of Nara.



I should have heed the warning...

 
Just when it couldn't get any better, one deer
pulled a sneak attack on me and startled me! 

This was definitely worth the trip- but there was more to come :)

Next stop was lunch, to get some warm food
in our bellies.  It was sooooo cold outside.

As we spilled out onto the street after lunch, we saw a sign for
a temple that was not far away.  We decided to go have a look
before we boarded the train back to Kyoto.  The narrow streets
took us through a residential area, twisting and turning, then
all of a sudden this massive structure was in front of us!

This is Todai-ji Temple, another UNESCO World Heritage
site.  What a find!!!  I was completely awestruck by its enormity.  

I felt the same when I saw Angkor Wat in Siem Reap,
Cambodia for the first time.

The photos do not do the temple justice.

Only as we walked the long marble sidewalk
leading up to the temple, could you appreciate its size.
Note the cluster of people in the center of the photo
in front of the entrance to the main hall...

...they were lighting incense and offering up their prayers
to Buddha in the main hall before entering.

Buddha Vairocana

The seated bronze cast Great Buddha is 52' tall.
His face alone is nearly 18 feet around- wow.

The Birushana Buddha has a golden halo that is 87 feet in
diameter, with 16 golden statues that are 8 feet tall each.

As I have done in temples, cathedrals, and
churches all over the world, I lit a candle
and said a prayer for my four grandparents,
father, and mother, who have all passed before me.

The Diabutsuden (Great Buddha Hall) is an
impressive structure. It has been rebuilt twice
due to fire, the most recent being 1703.
Until 1998, it was the largest wooden building
in the world; I believe it.  So massive.





It was beautiful walking about the grounds, but it was blustery!

I was looking forward to a warm train ride back to Kyoto!
Once we returned to Kyoto, we hopped back on a bus to head for
the Arashiyama area on the west side of town. It was the last
night of the Lantern Festival, and we wanted to walk through
the bamboo forest at night. It was a beautiful village.
Hanging lanterns
and luminaries marked the sidewalks.
The entrance to the Bamboo Forest was breathtaking!
I have seen so many beautiful things today- so blessed.
It was blessed COLD, too, lol.

The colored lights in the Bamboo Forest was
like looking at Christmas lights back home,
only different :)

Local children made paper lanterns to
contribute to the festival. So cute.

My favorite photo of the night- the up lighting in the forest made the
 ribs of the bamboo look like it was glowing.  It was incredible.
With that, it was another 18k step day, and we were worn
out. We caught the bus back to our home, made some hot tea,
and played some cards before calling it a night.

 Kyoto, I like your style :)

 G'nite, y'all!






Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Willis is three down, six to go. Dern cat.

Image
If cats have nine lives, Willis has now burned through three of them. The first one was when he went overboard on Marquesa several years ago.  I think that mishap took years off my own life, and landed me with a broken toe in the ER. In my haste to 'save' him, I dove overboard but got my toe hung up on the life lines. Geesh. Last Christmas, he had an encounter with a cotton mouth, the day after I left for Japan to spend Christmas with Ellie.  That was a scary one...he was lucky he didn't burn through all the remaining eight lives with that one. Now, here we are again, at the vet with a nasty, oozing, abscess on his right side.  There is one puncture wound, not two.  Yet, the vet is certain it was something venomous that nailed him once more.  When I took him to the vet on Saturday to have his wound looked at, there was a distinctive lump, the skin was blackened, and you could see one puncture and an abrasion. On Saturday, he tried to behave him...
Read more

School's Out For Summer!

Image
There is no doubt that teaching psychology to my Chinese babies was one of the most challenging and rewarding experiences of my life.  Their dedication and diligence to their academic pursuits is a bar set so high, that my American friends and family find my stories hard to believe.  All of that pressure to succeed comes with a price, however, and I felt part of my calling to China was to temper those unrealistically high expectations set by their teachers, families, and their very culture.  There is so much more to defining a person than one's GPA, transcripts, or from where they receive their diploma.  When learning is no longer FUN, there is a problem.  If I did anything right, it was to teach dem Chinese babies that it's okay to be silly and to have fun.  Life is too precious to be so serious and stressed out all the time!  Never let anyone or anything steal your joy and zest for life 😁...remember, you only get one go around. In moving back t...
Read more

The best laid plans

Image
Good morning!  We had a leisurely morning aboard Kantiya.  The Dismal Swamp Lock didn't open until 8:30am, so we enjoyed coffee and breakfast, and I checked email and worked on the blog some. The main salon is my 'office' on board- it works out fine :) The best laid plans, well.... are just that.  As we passed the 'road sign' for the Dismal Swamp it said the canal was open, but the lock was closed.  Knowing it was nearly 7:30pm and the last lock through was at 3:30pm, I figured," ok, it's closed- for the day".  I even remarked to Len that it looked like the kind of sign at a bar, that you can change from 'closed' to 'open'. Well, this morning, a man paddles by in a canoe, and Len thought, "That must be the guy changing the sign." Ah, no. I pulled off the dock at 8:00am for the short two mile jaunt to the lock.  At about one half mile out, I hail the lock on the VHF to request the 8:30 scheduled opening. I was politely ...
Read more