Day 4 - Nara and Kyoto

Today we started out by leaving the small-roomed Osaka Shin Hankyu Hotel. We got onto the nicest bus of the trip so far. It had a bathroom and outlets next to every seat. Our next destination was Kyoto, but first, we decided to stop off at Nara. Nara is a smaller town that was once the capital city of Japan.

While in Nara, we went to a park and got to feed deer. Some of the deer were very aggressive and tried to bite us. We got to feed them crackers that were made just for them. Their main diet consists of grass, paper and the crackers that people feed them. After we saw the deer we went to a temple that had a giant Buddha. In the temple there was a pillar with a hole in it. If you were able to crawl through the hole, you would be blessed with good luck, health, and fortune.

Huge statue of Buddha at the Todai Temple

When we arrived in Kyoto, the first thing we did was visit a temple that looked like it was made out of gold.  While we were there, it was raining really hard. We only stayed at the temple for about 30 minutes. By the time we made it back to the bus, everyone was soaked. Due to the terrible weather and most of us being tired, our tour guide decided to have us skip our next scheduled stop, and head to our hotel instead.

Rokuon-Ji Temple in Kyoto

When we arrived at the Kyoto New Miyako Hotel, we unpacked and had time to relax. We then walked over to the Aeon Mall to have dinner. There was a food court and an arcade there. We are definitely not looking forward to waking up at 5:30 tomorrow.

By: Cole and Kai