kyoto and nara tour

All that walking the day before, including train station stairs, was a little too much for Darrell so we both stayed back at the hotel while the group took a tour of Nara and Kyoto.  I gave Ryan a camera and he did a pretty good job of taking pics.  Only a couple of pictures of hairy knees on the bus and one eyeball (go figure).  A big improvement from previous trips when we didn't accompany him.  When he went on the tour of Washington D.C. as part of the Space Camp trip, he came home with a whole roll of pictures of graves from Arlington Cemetery. 

Okay so this is Ryan here. I didn't realize that the deer can actually be pretty aggressive when it comes to food. I actually got bit by one haha. However, I thought that this was a pretty neat experience because never before have I ever seen a deer bow. I guess japanese deer are pretty polite too.

This is Todaiji Temple, known as the largest wooden building in the world, and is the home of the Daibutsu, Japan's largest Buddha statue. Ryan: Okay, so I was amazed at the size of this temple. When we got into the temple I couldnt believe that it was as large as it was and that a place like this could have been built before modern machinery and tools. I also thought that the giant bronze budda statue was pretty cool. I felt kinda proud of my culture and the achievements they made hundreds of years ago.

Lunch was a bento on the coach ride from Nara to Kyoto. 

This is Kinkaku-ji,  the famous Golden Pavillion in Kyoto. Ryan: The scene at the Golden Pavillion was breath taking. I was unaware that a place like this even existed. However, if i remember anything about all these places it would be the heat. The heat at nearly every temple we visited was terrible. I think I must have spent around 5000 yen on bottled water alone haha.

Pagoda at Kiyomizudera Temple. Ryan: By the time we had reached this temple my group as well as myself were tired. We had a very long hike up the hill to reach the temple. As we walked up the hill we passed dozens of shops (we made a mental note to visit them before we had to leave). When we reached the top there was an amazing view of the forest beneath us as well as a fountain with three kinds of water; each for a different type of good fortune you wished upon yourself. When we walked down we stopped by several of the shops and I wound up buying a bracelet, ring and a customized lighter. Overall, I thought that this was a pretty cool experience.