We have been to Nara before. Last time was on a day trip from Kyoto like proper tourists. A day trip allows one to visit Teno-ji to see the massive Buddha statue and to feed specially made biscuits to the bowingbegging deer. This time we are here for four days and will be doing some stuff in the area most foreigners don't get to do.

Nara

First off, we visited the Japanese national treasure and UNESCO world cultural heritage site of Gango-ji. This is supposedly the first Buddhist temple in the whole of Japan, which seems like quite a claim. Amongst other things, this temple contains a model of a five story pagoda that was manufactured to scale using all the standard building techniques of the day. It was built during the peak of the Nara period namely the 1700s. What's unique about this model pagoda is that it is the only original five story pagoda of any size that is still standing - mainly because it is housed inside another building. So, it gives historians a really good idea about how these things were constructed. Being a Buddhist temple, of course we had to pay, but we could also not take any pictures inside.

Our first full day in Nara saw us leave the town by train for the now customary out of town action. This time, we were walking part of the Yamanobe-no-michi trail from Tenri to Miwa. This turned out to be a very pleasant 11 mile walk through farming countryside (principally fruit trees). The route followed narrow lanes and cobbled footpaths and wound through the foothills that line the Nara plain. The path was lined with fruit trees: grapefruit, persimmon and something called Yuzu which is a bit like a yellow clementine. Dotted along the trail were assorted shrines, temples and burial sites. The walk took well over six hours due to our constantly getting diverted to see some curiosity or other. A very pleasant country ramble and even the threatened rain did not materialise. We ended up at Ōmiwa Jinja shrine, where we spent a few minutes too long since we then had to scurry rapidly to Miwa station for the train back to Nara. No mean feat after an 11 mile walk.

As is our wont, we spent another day out, this time at a town called Uji. This is somewhere that had been in the running for a visit on our last trip, but didn't make the shortlist due to lack of time. The place is famous for its Matcha tea - which is unfortunate because neither of us likes it. There is also a Buddhist temple (entry fee, no photos) and a few Shinto shrines (free, take photos). The Buddhist temple is called Byōdōin and it seems to be largely attractive to tourists because it is fronted by an artificial lake that makes it quite picturesque. It has to be said that the temple museum holds some quite impressive pieces, but obviously we don't have any pictures. In particular, a set of 26 Buddhas sitting on clouds was rather memorable. A large number of western tourists appeared at this place which is testament to its proximity to Kyoto (we are only 20mins down the train line, but we're not going there this time).

Despite Byōdōin being the main attraction, we also visited Kōshō-ji Temple which turned out to be much more impressive than the Buddhist's offering. We were allowed unfettered access to the place - the only condition being that we removed our shoes. Even photography was allowed./

On our last day in Nara, we decided not to take the train out of town - we walked instead. Whilst the day-trippers visited the famous Buddhist temple of Tōdai-ji (entry fee), ogled over the 15m high Buddha figure of Daibutsu (the largest bronze Buddha in Japan) and fed purpose-made crackers to the deer, we did a 13 mile loop walk out from the temple complex, around the back of Mt Kasuga and on to Mt Wakakusayama which overlooks Nara Park and all the temples. The route passes through what's known as primal forest. This is forest that has not had any management or tree-felling done to it since about 800AD. It was really good to get away from the crowds and do something a bit different in Nara.

p.s. We also visited Tōdai-ji, ogled over Daibutsu and fed purpose-made crackers to the deer. All stuff we'd done on our last visit here - well, you would wouldn't you?

We've eaten some good food in Nara. It helps that the place empties out in the evenings as all the day-trippers return to Kyoto, so it's much easier to find a restaurant we fancy. In fact, we haven't seen any places with queues outside here - which is nice. We have concluded that this would be a better place to stay, making day trips to Kyoto rather than the other way round which is what everyone does.