Nara: A Must-See in Japan

              I like Nara the best, probably because I grew up in the city, a place unlike Nara. Nara was the very first permanent capital of Japan, it is a place full with natural beauty, temples and shrines.

On my way to Nara, near by Nara

              One of the most famous temples in Nara is Todaiji Temple.  It is famous for having been named one of the largest wooden buildings and largest bronze Buddha statue in the world. On your way walking to Todaiji Temple, there are deer everywhere. They are like mice in New York City train stations. Often times you see visitors feeding the deer cookies or the deer biting visitors. Once you buy a cookie from the shop, you must feed the deer right away, otherwise the deer might jump at and bite you. I learned my lesson from not feeding them right away!

Todaiji Temple

               Walking a few minutes to the east of Todaiji Temple, there is a very famous Shinto shrine called Kasuga Taisha Shrine. It is famous for having a thousand bronze lanterns, as well as two thousand stone lanterns.   

Deers are biting me photo by Xiao Rui Lin

 

              Another temple you should visit is Ryosenji Temple, for it is the biggest and, in my opinion, the best temple I have visited so far. A few things you must see while visiting Ryosenji Temple are the Rose Garden, Three-Floor Pagoda, Main Hall and Herbal bath,etc. I like the Rose Garden the most, because there are 200 species of roses and the whole garden is full of their scent. Inside the Rose Garden there's also a cafe, I strongly recommend to try out the rose ice-cream because it smells and tastes like a real rose and it's made to look like one too. There's also rose tea, rose sugar and rose coffee you could try it out too. Mid May till Mid November is probably is the best time to visit the rose garden.

                                                     

The Rose Garden

                                                             Rose ice-cream

              If you are interested in experiencing countryside living as well as visiting temples and shrines, I strongly recommend you visit Nara. There are a lot more about Nara you could discover.