Biking around Nara

Day 6 - Osaka Castle > Nara > Naramachi > Yoshikien Garden > Todai-ji > Kasuga-taisha > Osaka snacking with cousin
Early the next morning I headed out to Osaka Castle, I was just going to snap a quick photo outside the palace wall, but actually you can't see anything.... and I thought I would just walk into the inner wall area.... but again I couldn't see anything, so I ended up walking into the palace grounds. There are lots of students and tourists there already.... and this was like 9:00am or earlier.

The palace actually looks really nice.... I'm glad I went in. I didn't go into the actual palace as I was happy to snap a photo of the exterior.

Then I walked to the station to catch the train to Nara.

 above: the trees are slanted, and some of them have to be supported by additional logs to keep them upright

below: a potted plants market along the road

Nara is about 1 hour outside of Osaka by train/subway, and it was an ancient capital, so there are lots of huge temples there and also there is the huge Nara Park which is full of wild deers.

 above: it took me a few tries to understand how to buy a subway ticket, but once you do it's quite easy.

1. check the map above the ticket machine for your destination and you will find out the fare

2. click the "English" button if available

3. insert the amount for your fare (change will be given if you don't have exact change)

4. the black row of buttons (in the middle of this photo), next to the yellow number pad,

will flash red numbers in the amount for your ticket, press the one that is your fare amount

5. ticket comes out (and your change too if any)

Once I got to Nara, I rented a bike for the day as it's very easy to ride around Nara (although you can also take the bus). There are some slopes but they are all quite gentle and you can rent normal bikes or electrical bikes! I got an electrical one just because it wasn't that much more expensive - just JPY 1200 for the day, and you never know I might actually need the help going up those slopes (well, now I know, and I'm glad for the help cuz you do get tired biking all day).

I biked around the Naramachi area which is where the old town centre was, it's the busiest section where there are lots of shops and museums and tea houses etc. Stopped at the Nara Craft Museum (not much to see for tourists, but I think it's a place that local artists will have their exhibits as I saw some posters up and visitors coming out from other places in the museum) and the Museum of Calligraphy (there are two halls with a local calligrapher's works and some special exhibit).

Museum of Calligraphy

I didn't have much luck with the museums there as they are all quite small, but it was a joy just cruising around on my bike and stopping in little gardens along the way.

a street in naramachi where you can see the Five-story Pagoda

You can also bike in Osaka, but I think it's a bit dangerous cuz of all the traffic and pedestrians, and also parking is a hassle as you have to make sure you park in "parking lots" and they also have a fee... whereas in Nara, you can almost park anywhere that is out of the way (usually I don't leave my bike unattended for too long) and you can also ride on the road or the sidewalk as there are not many people walking. Riding a bike in Nara is good too because then you don't have to walk to the bus stop and wait for a bus.

I then went to Yoshikien Garden - which was an unintended stop, but I saw a brochure in the Museum of Calligraphy and this place is FREE entry for foreigners and it has a few types of Japanese Gardens within the compounds. It was also on the way to the place I wanted to go to for lunch.

 above & below: this place was so nice I wanted to sit there and write postcards,

but I was hungry... and didn't get a chance to go back. Glad I took some photos.

After the garden, I was starting to feel hungry.... had to find the place for lunch. It's called Kojo Ato Jimushitsu - it's an old factory that was used to research and produce yogurt, now it's been turned into a cafe/gallery and workshop space. The inside is actually not particularly special... I think it looks like a typical Japanese old style coffee shop/cafe would look like. There's an area where you can sit on tatami and an area where they have tables and chairs like western seating. It's comfy and small, but you don't feel rushed here, you feel like you can sit here for as long as you like.

I ended up ordering lunch and tea and Japanese sweets and then sat there and wrote a couple of postcards.

Then I continued to ride my bike up the road towards Todai-ji, and you'll start seeing deers along the road, but the largest concentration is just along the large walkway up to the shrine.... lots of people are feeding them (or pretending to) and taking photos. The deer are also quite agressive and will just step up and nudge you for food.

above two photos: riding my bike and taking photo at the same time

Then I made my way by bike to Kasuga-taisha where they have 3000 lanterns on their grounds. At first when I read about them I thought they were the hanging lanterns, but after I arrived, I realised they must be the stone lanterns that are covering almost every inch of the area around the shrine.

Afterwards I rode back to Naramachi to get some mochi... there's a famous store at the end of the first section of the Naramachi shopping street, and the mochis are JPY 130 for one. They say that you cannot keep the mochi for the next day, they must be consumed the same day they are made. I wish I could have brought some home, these were really good.

 above: a shop that sells knives

below: a shop selling a local artist's work, mostly cats

Then I made my way back to Osaka and met up with my cousin and his wife for dinner/snacks around Osaka. In the end we only had Takoyaki and Ramen.... I was also hoping to share Okonomiyaki with them because I think it's too big to have one by myself.