On December 30 we took a train towards Nara, home of several historic monuments declared by UNESCO as World Heritage Sites.
From the train station we took a bus to Kasuga Taisha, a beautiful temple established in 768 on Mount Miksa. The area around the temple is full of stone lanterns, which are only lit twice a year (February and mid August) for lantern festivals.
We then walked to Todai-ji Temple, one of the most impressive temples in Japan. The temple’s wood structure is an engineering masterpiece; the size of the columns and the construction technique is magnificent. A must see place if you visit Japan. The main feature of Todai-ji Temple is its Buddha sitting on a lotus petal pedestal. It is 14.98 meters height and weights around 500 tons.
We then visited the Kofuku-ji Temple and five-storey pagoda.
In the afternoon we visited Jakushi-ji Temple. This is a white and orange temple with beautiful structural work. It was fully rebuilt a few years ago so it looks almost brand new, however it was completed in the year 680.
In Nara all the temples close by 5:00pm so we took the train back to Osaka. We got off the train at Tsutenkaku station and visited the Shinsekai neighbourhood, a place known for its huge portions of food. This is food at a different level!
