May 13, 2017
Nara: Sight seeing
Since we knew the rain was going to chuck down for all the night and most of the morning, we decided to lie in tis morning. As a result, I only got up after nine o'clock. Leigh has already been working on her video for a couple of hours. Tea for Leigh and coffee for me to start the day - Leigh hates the green tea we have bought and the instant coffee that I am drinking is not any better - I really wish I had my Bialetti with me but I was avoiding the extra weight.
We cycled into one of the shopping streets to by some onigiri from a konbini when we spotted pizzas for only 350 JPY. Turns out they were 450 if ordered to take away - pity we only worked that out after paying for our order. This is only the second non-local meal I have ever eaten in Asia - the previous one was a truely crappy pizza in Sri Lanka. This one wasn't great but at least it was edible which is more that I can say about the Sri Lankan one.
After that it was of to the Todaiji Temple, home of the largest Buddha in Japan and itself th largest wooden building in the world. Built in 720 and redone over the years, it is huge even though it is no only two thirds of its original size. I have been astounded by the hords of Japanese school kids that visit the temples and shrines, all dressed in their school uniforms and accompanied by their teachers, even though it is a weekend.
After that we cycled up to the Kasuga-Taisha Shrine, also very busy with school kids and also mostly Japanese visitors. I guess the ratio between Japanese and foreign visitors at these attractions must be close to 20:1.
Then it was back down the hill to last night's suoermarket for a splash out on sushi and a bottle of cheap Chilean wine, costing less than R150 for the lot - the same meal in South Africa would have cost at least double that amount. Who says Japan is expensive ?
Today is our last day of sight seeing for a while and tomorrow we start a two day journey heading down to Wakayama to catch the ferry to Tikoshima on the island of Shikoku wher we hope to spend about two weeks in a more rural environment.
Today's ride: 7 km (4 miles)
Total: 115 km (71 miles)
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