Woke up to another beautiful day.

Straight over to JR Osaka Station to activate our JR passes . End up booking three of our Shinkansen trips. Two are on a long weekend and without reserved seats we might have ended up in trouble.

We decide to got to Nara and visit the deer. Get directions to the train to Nara and they come with an apology that "it is only a rapid". Guessing that some people come to Japan and expect every train to be a shinkansen.

Train journey is out through lots of rice paddies and both small and large towns. Through tunnels under a small range and 50 minutes later we're in Nara. Again another amazingly helpful person at the information office and we're off onto the stifling heat up towards the park.

Haven't had breakfast again so stop off for brunch in a a cafe and have great iced coffee and toasted sangers. Even though it's a Sunday, it's very quiet here.

First stop is a couple of pagodas - a three tier and then a five tier . We then went to the Kotukuji Temple. Quite amazing.

Then head up to the Todaji Temple - the largest timber structure in the world. It is huge!!! Giant Buddha inside it (largest inside Buddha?). My god it's hot inside, and outside as well.

Start up the hill towards the Great Bell and the Nigatsu-do Hall. We are both rivers of sweat but everyone else is as well. Everyone is wandering around with towels to wipe the sweat out of stinging eyes.

It's a lot of gorgeous temples and other buildings but it's so hot we just try to move from shady place to shady place.

Oh, and there are deer EVERYWHERE. Al bought one pack of crackers to feed them JPY150. Watched one give a school kid a swift kid when they didn't have any crackers for them!

Al's leg has been playing up a bit so we cut our losses and head back to the station . The airconditioning is a huge relief. Tempted to buy beer before we board but chicken out and get non-alcoholic cider instead.

Pass though a thunderstorm on the way back to Osaka but it doesn't follow us into the city.

Try to get to the summer festival bar up on top of the Hankyu Building but it either required our name on a list (a reservation maybe?) or we just couldn't understand each other so no roof bar for us.

Just need a shower to cool off so back to the hotel and once we've cooled off into our arcade for dinner at another of the restaurants. No picture menu but taken out to front window to point to what we want. Also order some coke and red wine but Al thinks it might be rum. We'll try to recreate when we get home.

When we'd got back to the hotel there was a laundry bag on the bed. Wonder if it's a hint our sweaty clothes smell? So we wash some jocks and socks and will send some laundry out tomorrow.