kyoto to nara

the train from Kyoto down to Nara passes through some interesting spots, and our JR passes let us get on and off the train as we please. our first stop was at Fushimi Inari, a temple with thousands of bright orange gates over a trail that leads up the hillside behind it. (we also enjoyed the rows of flags reading "TripAdvisor #1 Destination in Kyoto" hanging from flagpoles near the entrance.)

the Fushimi sake district was two stations down from Inari. we visited the Gekkeikan Okura Sake Museum inside an old distillery - B said she learned a lot about how sake is made; i just liked looking at all the old equipment. we both agreed the tasting was excellent.

we got yakitori lunch in bento boxes at a place up the street, then continued on to the city of Nara. we rented bikes from a guy who'd been dozing when we arrived (he was groggy yet friendly), then biked way out of town to our house in the country. it's big and quiet and Japanese-style, with a ryokan-style bathing room and a talking bathtub temperature control panel (no idea what she's saying, but it sounds pleasant enough).

we left our stuff and biked back towards downtown to wander through the big park filled with tall trees, mystical stone lanterns, temples, and semi-tame wild deer. the highlight was Todai-ji's Daibutsu-den temple, the world's largest wooden building, which houses the world's largest bronze statue of the Buddha - its hand alone is two feet taller than i am. the whole thing was unexpected and astonishing.

we got an okonomiyaki dinner (kind of a Japanese omelette) before biking back home in the dark with our pedal-powered lights on.