Kyoto and Nara 3 Days Trip - Day 2

20th November 2011

Second day of the trip. We took Keihan train 京阪本線 from Gionshijo 祇園四条駅 to FushimiInari Station 伏見稲荷駅. FushimiInari is a temple with many torii 鳥居. It is very interesting. There is a row of torii leading to the hilltop, so me and my friends hiked through it. By the time I reached the hilltop, I could barely breathe.

Fushimi Inari Station 伏見稲荷駅

Fushimi Inari Shrine 伏見稲荷神社

Fushimi Inari Shrine 伏見稲荷神社

Fushimi Inari Shrine 伏見稲荷神社

Fushimi Inari Shrine's torii 伏見稲荷神社の鳥居

Fushimi Inari Shrine's torii 伏見稲荷神社の鳥居

hilltop of the Fushiinari Shrine overlooking the Kyoto City

After that, we went to a cafe to have coffee before taking train to Tofukuji 東福寺. There was so many people there, packed like sardine can. However, the view was so breathtaking with all the red leaves. So  nice!

Tofukuji Station 東福寺駅 (packed with people)

Tofukuji 東福寺

Tofukuji 東福寺

Then, we walked to Sanjusangendo 三十三間堂, a temple with many statues of deities. My friend said that everyone will find a deity statue that looks like himself or herself amongst all the statues. 

Sanjusangendo 三十三間堂

Next, lunch time. Well, we actually found a halal Indian restaurant in that area. So, we had Indian food in Kyoto, hahaha! Then, we took train to Nara and then bus to visit the famous Todaiji Daibutsuden 東大寺大仏殿. The temple has a very large huge statue of Buddha.

After we got off the bus, we could see a lot of deer roaming around the park. The deer were quite aggressive when they smelled food, they would follow until the person gave up the food on his or her hand. If one wants to feed the deer, there are stalls selling deer crackers, I forgot the price, maybe 100 yen per pack.

on the way to Todaiji accompanying by deer

We loitered around the park until one of my friends yelled to us to go to the Todaiji fast because in November, the closing time is 4.30pm, and the latest admission time is 4pm. We almost missed it!(・。・;

Todaiji 東大寺 looks so magnificent even from afar. The daibutsuden 大仏殿 houses a huge Buddha  大仏 statue. I prayed there. Although I am not a very religious person, I feel that it is not so good to take photo of the Buddha statue. However, a lot of people snapped a lot of photos there. One interesting thing inside the temple is a hole of one supporting column, people queued up to pass through it. Mostly kids did that. However, some adults did that too. Although it seemed interesting, the queue was too long for me, I skipped that. (From wikipedia, legend has it that those who pass through it will be blessed with enlightenment in their next life and the hole apparently the same size as one of the Daibutsu's nostrils)

Todaiji 東大寺

a kid squeezed himself out of a small hole inside the Todaiji Temple

After Todaiji, we decided to walk to the train station for the train ride back to Kyoto. A lot of people were the same idea as us. It was actually kind of funny when a lot of people aiming for one direction. After reached Kyoto, we went back to the same izakaya we had dinner the day before because it was the only one restaurant that can accommodate us. Anyway, all of us had a great time!

Then, those that had to start work the next day went to bus station to take bus to back to Tokyo. And left three of us and we would continue for one more day. Too bad that we had really bad roommates that night. They were drunk and kept talking, I couldn't sleep at all!

Day 1 details
Day 3 details