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Japan Winter 2019 - Part 5 Nara in Half A Day

Note: The pandemic happened and I had lost all motivation to continue writing about this trip. Jump 2 years forward, it is now 2022 and I have a newfound urge to complete this series and write more :D I have a Switzerland trip during lockdown to write about after this one, and more to come. Please look forward to it!

 When I planned this trip, I asked Miss Kiki if she would've preferred going to Osaka and looking around the city, or going to Nara to see the deers. I knew what the answer would be, but I thought I'd ask anyway just in case. As I had thought, my animal-loving child chose the deers in a heartbeat.

We set out not too early in the morning from Kobe towards Osaka and from there switched trains to get to Nara. It was a nice train ride, long enough for a snooze but not too long. 





In Nara Station, we were greeted by a bunch of their deer mascot called Shikamaro-kun here and there. There is a visitor center in the station where you can get various information about the area, and if you collect Starbucks items, be sure to visit the Nara Station Starbucks!




From Nara Station, we followed the road towards the Nara Deer Park. We made a few stops along the way, some of which worth mentioning are a fruit shop (Japanese Strawberries!), pressed sushi, and the Nakatanidou mochi shop where you can see the exciting mochi pounding process. 

























On the way to Nara Deer Park, we passed by the 5-story pagoda in Kofuku-ji. We didn't go up to see it close but of course we had to take a picture with it! :)








And finally, we arrived at Nara Deer Park. The weather was quite nice, so it was comfortable to walk around even for my parents. Grandpa bought Miss Kiki a pack of Shika Senbei, or Deer Cookie so she could feed the deer. The deer in Nara park are famous to be mild mannered and they have learned to bow to visitors in order to get food. When we were there though, the deer seemed to be tired of the cookies and a lot of them refused cookies. Miss Kiki walked around with her cookie chips in hand, searching for deer who would take it. The ones that would, bowed first. In the middle of our walk, an old grandpa showed up and gave Miss Kiki and a few other kids some nuts. They seemed to be nuts from the trees growing in the area, and the deer apparently prefer those to the cookies!



























After we finally finished the cookies, we left Nara Park and walked back the same way we came towards Nara Station. We had lunch at one of the restaurants on the way, and took the train to Osaka.






Our visit to Osaka was pretty uneventful, we had conveyor belt sushi at a restaurant in Dotonbori. This is the same sushi place that DH and I went to a few years back. 












We took the train back to Kobe from Osaka and had the delicious Ikinari Steak. Overall, Nara is a nice place, but I'd say once is enough :)

Please stay tuned for the next post!
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