Today I took a day trip with my UK friend. We hopped on a 7am local train from Kyoto to Nara which took about one hour, and then walked 20 minutes from the train station to Nara park. This park has many temples and shrines, and thousands of deer roaming freely that you can feed. Many are even trained to bow for food! I essentially had a grin on my face for four straight hours as we explored the park. You have to be careful to not show the rice crackers (which is what you feed the deer) when you're around many of them else you get completely surrounded. Some of the more aggressive ones will headbutt you until you feed them! It was funny to see some tourists get overwhelmed and throw all their crackers in an attempt to escape.
The daibutsu in the Tōdai-ji temple was stunning. The picture doesn't do it justice, but the second picture gives you a sense of the scale of the Buddha.
After Nara we took a 40 minute rapid train to Osaka, which is another huge metropolis. We visited the Dontonbori area which is known for its amazing food. In particular okonomiyaki and takoyaki.
After filling our stomachs and exploring the streets of Osaka we took a 30 minute rapid train back to Kyoto and spent then evening sitting by the Kamo river and chatting about life.
