Osaka and Nara
A couple of weeks ago Ryan and I made the trip to Osaka and Nara. Osaka is Japan's second city and obsolutely huge. It's just pure city. You can walk for miles and the surroundings hardly change. Friday was national holiday so we set out for a three day weekend, first stopping in Umeda, Osaka, to check out the Umeda Sky Building. From the top we had a great view of city, which was seemingly never ending. Afterwards we headed towards some of the cool little shops in the underground shopping network, and then to Amerika Mura to find the capsule hotel. Once we'd ditched our stuff in the lockers we headed out and about in Amerika Mura and then Namba. We hit our favourite izakaiya Doma Doma for dinner and then explored a handful of the many, many bars in the area. We found large bars hard to come by. Instead in Osaka there are many bar-filled buildings, with several floors and five or six bars on each floor, many of which only seat 10 or so people. Each bar we visited was different to the last, and many of them had themes.
The following morning we took a short train ride into Nara, the first capital of a united Japan. We headed west from the station into the Nara Park area where we found ourselves surrounded by historic buildings and monuments. Of note we visited the Todai-ji Temple (largest temple in Japan, and largest wooden structure in the world), the Kofuku-ji Temple, the Kasuga Taisha Shrine and the Gango-ji Temple. Nara Park is littered with the sometimes-cute (and ever-pestering) deer. Everyone feeds them but they always seem to want more - it's a real suprise they're not bigger than they are. That night we headed back into Osaka, and this time sought out a gaijin bar, with beer, pool, darts and football on TV! Yes! Before turning in for the night we checked out a rock gig, which might have been good but for the music... and the many drunken Aussies!
On the Sunday we spent a couple of hours in Osaka Auquarium, where the main attraction is a whale Shark, and then had another look in the shops before heading home.
Umeda Sky Building.
Ryan making the trek.
Now who's your daddy?!
Jellyfish in Osaka Aquarium.
Carnival atmosphere in Nara - or maybe just friendly cross-dressers.
A five-story Pagoda.
Kofuku-ji. Built in 710CE.
Ryan and deer.
Todai-ji. The biggest temple in Japan and biggest wooden structure in the world.
Giant Buddha inside Todai-ji.
The following morning we took a short train ride into Nara, the first capital of a united Japan. We headed west from the station into the Nara Park area where we found ourselves surrounded by historic buildings and monuments. Of note we visited the Todai-ji Temple (largest temple in Japan, and largest wooden structure in the world), the Kofuku-ji Temple, the Kasuga Taisha Shrine and the Gango-ji Temple. Nara Park is littered with the sometimes-cute (and ever-pestering) deer. Everyone feeds them but they always seem to want more - it's a real suprise they're not bigger than they are. That night we headed back into Osaka, and this time sought out a gaijin bar, with beer, pool, darts and football on TV! Yes! Before turning in for the night we checked out a rock gig, which might have been good but for the music... and the many drunken Aussies!
On the Sunday we spent a couple of hours in Osaka Auquarium, where the main attraction is a whale Shark, and then had another look in the shops before heading home.
Umeda Sky Building.
Ryan making the trek.
Now who's your daddy?!
Jellyfish in Osaka Aquarium.
Carnival atmosphere in Nara - or maybe just friendly cross-dressers.
A five-story Pagoda.
Kofuku-ji. Built in 710CE.
Ryan and deer.
Todai-ji. The biggest temple in Japan and biggest wooden structure in the world.
Giant Buddha inside Todai-ji.
posted by Laurence at 3:21 PM
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