Day 3 in Osaka or Nara

Konichiwa dear travel fans,

This morning we woke up at 9 AM and had absolutely no jet lag whatsoever! I’m really excited! 😃 Apparently, being awake for 36 hours straight followed by 10–15 hours of sleep is the solution. Who needs a sleep rhythm when you can do a hardcore reset?

Anyway, we set off for Nara today. First, of course, we got breakfast at the bakery (and no – this time we really didn’t buy anything that looks like chocolate 😅).

Nara is about 50 minutes by train from Osaka and is not only known for its temples but also for the quite widespread Sika deer. I just googled Nara and the deer – and the first thing I read was something about 'dangerous' because apparently over 100 people are injured by the deer each year. Well, Ramona and I were just nibbled at here and there because they wanted food – so it was all relaxed. 😅 The deer get 'Shika Senbei' – wafer-like rice crackers that you can buy at many places for 200 yen. The deer totally celebrate these things – and no, I didn’t try one (maybe Ramona secretly 🤷).

Oh yeah, the deer have learned to bow before humans. No kidding, they copied this from the Japanese and hope to get food by doing so.

Anyway – Nara Park is huge, and thanks to Carmen for the recommendations! It really saved us a ton of time and steps.

After hanging out with the deer, we looked at the temples. And it was really impressive – especially Tōdai-ji: This is not only the largest wooden building in the world but also a UNESCO World Heritage site. Particularly when you consider that neither glue nor nails were used for the temple – the wooden elements are simply fitted together and interlocked (Tsugite & Shiguchi). It’s quite a marvel!

After all the walking, hunger began to set in – Ramona was getting quite irritable 😅. So off we went to the mochi stand, where real craftsmanship is still alive: The mochi rice dough (Mochigome) is pounded by hand, processed, and steamed right there. After preparation, the items go straight to sale – and you get them warm in your hand. Quite a delight!

...tomorrow I’ll write about the rest of the day!