Japan: Day 14 — Kyoto ...

The final steps to reach the 342m peak of at Mount Wakakusa in Nara

Finally! Blue skies and the sun! I was up early and decided to head to Nara for the day. It was only 45 minutes away by train and I arrived in Nara just after 8am. There were very few people around.

A group of deer escaping the hot sun

Minutes away from the train station, I ran into a huge group of deer. They were everywhere! In the parks, on the streets and some even in the stores. You could buy deer crackers for ¥150 from small street stalls to feed the deer but I didn’t bother to do this. I did have fun looking at the deer. As I continued on my walk, I was amazed! It seemed there were no places without deer.

My goal for the day was to climb Mount Wakakusayama. (¥150) I hiked up to the peak which was 342m and offered lovely views of the city below with almost a 360-degree view. There was a huge group of deer up at the top resting in the shade. It was a glorious day but a hot walk up in the sun. The weather couldn’t have been better.

I took a different route down the hill and when I got to the bottom I had a look on my phone for any restaurants in the area. There was a burger place called Sakura Burger right across from the train station. It had rave reviews on trip advisor so I thought if I could find it easily, it’d be worth a visit.

Deer warning sign

On the way back to the temple, I stopped at the Todaiji temple. It was extremely busy and I found myself wondering why the deer stayed where they did. Some people seemed to be chasing after the deer even when there were signs that clearly asked people not to do that. People were also pulling on the deer's antlers which I am sure the deer didn’t like. I felt a bit disappointed at people’s stupidity. It would be interesting to learn how many people got bitten, butted or kicked in a day.

The Todaiji Temple

The Todaiji temple had an entrance fee to get in and I didn’t want to pay to go into another temple. I took a picture from the outside and made my way towards the train. My tummy was grumbling.

The burger joint was easy to find. They had a variety of burgers available or you had the option of building your own! I got a burger with avocado and cheese. It was terribly messy but oh, so good! I enjoyed it with a cold beer and was glad I stopped there for lunch.

I made my way back to my neck of the woods and stopped for dinner snacks and cold beer on the way back to the guest house. I rested for the remainder of the day and watched some TV.