Nara Day 5

Though the weather forecast for Saturday and Sunday was heavy rain, thunder and lightning, we decided to risk a trip to Nara with the boys anyway since they were out of school for the day. Nara, like Kyoto, once served as an imperial city and also escaped the bulk of the bombings of WWII, and is therefore quite historic. However, it is probably best known today for hosting the largest sitting Daibutsu in the world and the over 2,000 deer that are allowed to roam the city freely (you see them on all over town, near shops, lounging on street corners, chewing on your clothes, etc.). Deer were once seen as the messengers of the Gods in that area, hence- the cohabitation with people. Think of India with cows...and there you have it. Curious, friendly, hungry deer everywhere. ;-)

Our first trip to Nara (I think we've been about 3-4 times prior) astounded us. We'd never been to a city where so many animals could roam the city streets without fear of being skewered by a cross bow. :-) Like Arashiyama's monkeys, it was nice to peacefully cohabitate with such tame wildlife in such a ho-hum way. So I definitely wanted the boys to experience that feeling as well. Although I can't say that I'd want to hang out with like, pumas or bears (no matter how well fed they are) in the same manner. Have you seen my juicy thighs?! Total bear food.

On the train ride down to Nara (about an hour away). Wherever we go, we make a spectacle of ourselves. People just can't seem to believe how Keni, Riki and I speak English so fluently! *blushing*

Getting mobbed by the deer of Nara Koen for senbei crackers (sold exclusively for the deer) from about the moment you step off the train. :-) We witnessed more than one deer altercation where they stand on their hind feet and slap furiously at each other with their front legs. I know it's not supposed to be funny, but it was HI-larious. Kinda like deer b**ch-slapping. They also lightly head  butt people with their antlers when they don't get their way. Also funny!

Riki-kun couldn't seem to understand why the deer did not want to be hugged tightly  (and only wanted to eat his senbei). Here is the 197th deer who tried to get away from his warm loving embrace.

It took Ryan a few minutes to gain his confidence around those greedy, aggressive deer (they kept trying to nibble my bags, chew on Rich's shirt, etc.). But once he did...he loved it.

We figured out a system, once you get a crowd, you move on and start over. Otherwise, you get nibbled.

Trying out the earthquake simulator while cooling off at the Visitor Center

Our next main destination post-deer mauling was to head over to the massive Todaiji temple, home to the world's largest bronzed, sitting Daibutsu. Key word- sitting. There are larger Buddha statues around the world that are holding other poses, like laying down (Thailand), blowing bubbles (I'm guessing on this one), etc.

Entering the massive wooden gates of Todaiji

Dear Lord. American tourists are so obnoxious. (eye roll) But man! His English is great! ;-)

Todaiji Temple...gorgeous, even at 92 degrees with 85% humidity. :-)

He never looks large in pictures, but I'll provide a better example of how massive the statue is shortly. To give you an idea...we would appear about half an inch tall in this picture next to him.

This wooden post has a hole in it that is the same scale/size as the Buddha's nostril. Yes, it is that massive of a statue. People who can crawl through the hole are said to be enlightened. All three boys scrambled through nimbly.

Me? I needed a little (lie...A LOT) of help. Still, I feel smarter already.  

A final moment with the deer (before Nurse Uncle Rich slathered them in multiple layers of anti-bacterial lotion). As a result, we all smelled like orange-scented gel for hours afterwards. But we appear to be healthy and flesh-eating bacteria -free- a real bummer for one of us who is ALWAYS hoping to infect her thighs with such helpful bacterium.

More Nara deer

The end of our day was at Mika's parents house for what felt like a 19-course dinner cooked by her mom. Here is Ryan with the family dog, Louis-chan (as it Vuitton of course), whom he loves. I liked him a lot too...he's cuddly and apparently, his breed doesn't really shed. I was willing to get one for Ryan (until I found out little Louis-chan runs about $3,000-5,000, depending on color). So I think we'll stick with our almost as cuddly four guppies for now. They run a little less. (Though I'll gladly sell you mine for the bargain rate of $100 each if you're interested.)