We left the hotel at 8 AM for the hour drive to Nara, Japan's 8th century capital. We visited the Tofaiji Temple housing the largest bronze statue of Buddha Vairocana. It is a deer park too. The deer are thought to be the messenger of the Dieties. The temple is also the Japanese headquarters of the Kegon School of Buddhism. We saw a monk blessing a new car for a family. This can happen if you donate about $500 to the temple. A short stop away was the Kasuga Taisha Shrine. The shrine has lanterns made of stone that line the pathway. Both areas had beautiful cherry blossom trees. After a noodle lunch on our own, we went to the downtown area of Kyoto where Emiko walked us around some old sections of town and to see another area of cherry blossom trees (this was free time, but she guided us on her own time).
Walked back to the hotel along the river with Rich and Judy . Between avoiding the bikes on the path and looking at the scenery, it was a challenging 45 minutes.
Got our new room, rested then went for a spaghetti dinner at the Porta Dining area. It was an early night.
2025-02-10