Day 6 - Travel day and Nara

Today is a travel day, we will be sitting mostly and won't see much. In total, we will spend about 5 hours on trains today. It will take us 2 hours to get from Kanazawa to Kyoto, and then another 3 hours to get from the main station to our accommodation and then go to Nara. There, we will meet Thomas one last time on this trip to visit the famous deer and deer city. Since we will arrive at 4:30 PM, we don't have much time because we also need to go back and our last connection is at 9 PM.

Our Airbnb has 2 bicycles that we can use as we please. So we hop on the bikes and start riding. Our big problem is the size of the bikes 😅, here we realize once again that we are far above the average height of the Japanese. Here, a man is on average 1.70 m tall. With 1.85 m and 1.89 m, we can usually see over the crowds of people at the station and on the train.

The second challenge is driving on the left side of the road and the associated traffic rules. Give way to the left and look to the right first, and then to the left. After 20 years, this has been burned into our brains and requires a little more attention when cycling than we are used to.

When we arrive in Nara, our destination is the local park where the deer are. Similar to the monkey park, we can't see the forest for the trees here. Everywhere there are wild deer that can be fed and petted, if they allow it. It is interesting that the animals have learned the behavior of the Japanese and bow briefly before they get something to eat. But then they are also eager for a reward and don't let go until it's all gone.

After a portion of ramen, it is time to go to Kyoto and urgently lie down. We need to be physically and mentally fit for the next day.