A night in Nara

Next stop on the trail was in Nara, which is just 45 minutes south of Kyoto on the train line. It’s another cultural hotspot with many temples and shrines exhibiting Japanese heritage. We hit the highlights here, visiting the world’s largest wooden building (distant cousin of the Phoenix at Knoebels, world’s largest wooden rollercoaster circa 1990) and climbing Wakakusayama Hill to get the birdseye view of the city. Nara is also home to hundreds of tame deer that just roam the roads and grow fat eating crackers that vendors sell to tourists to feed them. We just hope these deer never make any plans to visit their American relatives in late September – that would be a true culture shock.

Right up there with the Phoenix for best wooden structures in my book. Not sure who my friend on the right is, but nice of her to smile at the camera.

Pretty common for Japanese schoolchildren to approach us and interview us in English for a school assignment. The peace sign is up in every single picture without fail.

We liked this guy - he claimed half our cracker packet.