DAY 20: SHOPPING!

this is going to be a pretty short as well as boring post haha...

today it drizzled a bit, and we didn't have anything planned that we wanted to do, so we used it as a souvineer-buying day, and we actually went to the train station to do so! it sounds weird, but the big train stations here are like malls. they have a TON of restaurants, shops, and even department stores can be connected to them. so, off we went! we got a lot done, and then we went to coco curry for dinner and it was really good (as usual!).

nothing else to report! sorry! we're just taking it easy today. tomorrow we'll be heading off to our hot spring hotel though! so we are really excited for that! tomorrow's blog will be much more fun with pictures and stuff haha :)

DAY 19: HIKING UP MOUNT YOSHINO

here is where mount yoshino is located :)

it took quite a few train rides and 2 and a half hours to get there from the shinosaka station (close to our hotel) but we finally got there, and started the long trek up the mountain!

mount yoshino is well-known for it's 30,000 cherry trees. it was a VERY beautiful hike! we made the mistake of going on a saturday though (and close to the end of the cherry blossom season, particularly for the lower 1000 trees) so it was sort of PACKED with people haha...

gorgeous views though!!!!!

once you get to the 2nd large group of cherry trees, there are a TON of souvineer places as well as restaurants so it took longer to get higher because it became quite cramped...but we couldn't help it, and stopped for some sakura ice cream!!!

 

as you can see, i took a bite out of mine before i was reminded to take a picture haha...i couldn't wait to try it! and it was so yummy!

then we saw this happen, but unfortunately we're not sure what was going on...

getting higher and higher though! 

this part looked cool :)

LOVE this shot!

almost to our chosen hanami picnic spot!

the views up there were great!

LOADS of cherry trees in the distance

lots of people chose this spot for hanami, but it still wasn't packed which was really nice

our food erik had been carrying up the mountain this whole time for our picnic! haha

other people enjoying the cherry blossoms...and their gigantic bottles of sake!

heading back down...

and of course on the way down (it was really hot, okay?!) we got another ice cream cone haha...good thing we hiked off all the calories! this one was black sesame, and it was much stronger than the last one i had at himeji castle. it was really good :)

aaaaand then we took this uncomfortable train ride home hahaha...saturdays are bad travel days during cherry blossom season! hehe ;)

DAY 18: TRIP TO KINKAKUJI

today we went to go see the kinkakuji temple (or better known as "the golden pavillion") in kyoto

it is completely covered in pure gold leaf

it was pretty cool to see :)

around the area as we walked around we saw some other interesting things...

like this spot where you are supposed to throw coins and try to get it in the bowl. we threw some, and i got one in, but it bounced right back out! haha

and these machines spit out your fortune for 100 yen (like, $1)

here's mine!

you unroll them and they give you quite a detailed fortune haha...

afterwards on our walk back, we saw this very loud van drive by yelling all sorts of things in japanese on the loudspeakers about this guy who is running for something. we weren't sure what he was running for, but we have seen posters around town

the voices faded as they drove further and further, but as we walked closer to the station, we heard them again! they parked right in front of the station and the guy running gave a huge speech as the other people in the van waved and shook their pom-poms hahaha...it was fun to randomly see.

then we hopped on the train and had another gorgeous ride back :)

we were starving by the time we got back, and i had picked up this cool spaghetti ramen thing, that ended up being way cooler than we thought!!! it had a little drain built in and everything!

and even gave a packet of parmesan to go with it! it was awesome :) and delicious! AND only like $1.50! can't beat that

DAY 17: HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BUDDHA!!!

today was an absolutely GORGEOUS day, and it was also buddha's birthday! so what better place to go than nara, where it has japan's largest buddha!

here is where nara is :) pretty close. just a 45 minute train ride away

now, not only was it buddha's birthday today, but the year 2010 is also the 1300th anniversary for nara! nara is japan's original capital, so that was pretty cool. they have banners and posters all over the place letting people know

nara is a very beautiful place with lots of parks...

AND DEER!!!!!!

waaaay more deer than miyajima had! and these ones are all over the place, walking around

SO CUTE!

a baby!

hahaha

anyway, we continued on our path to go see buddha

starting to enter the todaiji temple

not a cloud in the sky! as you can see, this temple where buddha is, is huge. it's also the largest wooden building in the world!

and here is buddha inside! again, you really cannot tell from the pictures, but this buddha is GIGANTIC. it's 49.1 feet tall! the ears alone are 8.3 feet tall haha...

the little statues on the gold part behind him are about the same size as a person (to help you see how big it is!)

it was pretty awesome

this statue (also inside the temple) is also huge, and carved out of wood! he is a guardian inside the temple

a supporting post in the temple has a hole apparently the same size as one of the buddha's nostrils. legend has it that those who pass through it will be blessed with enlightenment in their next life!

us in front of the todaiji temple

after the temple, we walked back through the deer park, and the great thing with this park is that you can buy crackers for the deer and they go absolutely BONKERS!

this guy made a mistake and didn't run away immediately after buying his crackers

they get...pushy haha

so we bought a pack of crackers, and ran a pretty good distance away with them, but the deer knew better, and a few followed us the whole distance!

attacking erik! 

but...these deer also BOW for crackers!!! it was so cool!

okay they're gettin' grabby again haha...

then we rode one back to the station (just kidding!) ;)

but we saw this on our walk back, and thought it looked funny

we also saw these guys on our walk back. they were hitting that gluttonous rice ball really hard!

then in this part, it was SUPER fast, and the one guy was flipping the ball over with his hands while the other hit it with the mallet. i thought mallet was going to hit that poor guy's hands because they were going so fast! and look at those ARM muscles!

and then a 3rd guy has the super easy job of coating the little balls so people could buy them to eat haha

what a great day! and a gorgeous train ride home!