Before I departed to Kyoto I wanted to take a day trip to visit Nara park. While on the train I felt my pocket and realized my phone was gone! 😠. I started to get a bit nervous since I couldn’t communicate with anyone or find my way around Japan without it. I took got off at the next stop and went back. I spoke to a lady working at the information desk who took me to the lost and found. Someone turned in my phone! I was so relieved and thankful for how honest the people of Japan are.
I got back on the train and headed back to Nara Park, one of Japan’s oldest parks! It was so beautiful with lakes and forests everywhere. There are some nice trails and interesting temples as well. The park is famous for the deer that live there. The deer are friendly and cute and you can feed them with snacks from the stores nearby. I was really surprised that after I fed them they started to bow and lower their heads! You need to be aware that they are still wild animals so they can and do act out. One of the deer headbutt me after I ran out of food haha and another nipped my leg from behind asking for snacks. I also saw a deer bite a piece of a lady’s bag ripping it. Nothing crazy, just a heads up to be aware at the park.
The next day I returned back to Osaka and started the ride to Kyoto. I was really happy that I was able to stay off the roads for most of it since there is a trail that hugs the Yodo River all the way to Kyoto. My Journey was mostly cloudy and cool! I enjoyed the ride in nature with the river and mountains in the distance. On my way, I found a small restaurant on the first floor of a house where I had some Okonomiyaki. It was nice to have a home-cooked meal.
In Kyoto there are a lot of beautiful temples and rich gardens. The city has a massive emphasis on maintaining the traditional design, I saw phone booths with traditional tiles on the roof. I visited Ashiyama Park known for its monkeys. I took a path up a trail and got a great view of Kyoto. It was nice to see all of the monkeys running around. It was a bit challenging since It was really packed with visitors. I also went to Fushimi Inari temple one of the most beautiful sights of Kyoto. There is a trail going up the mountain with 10,000 red gates covering the path. The temple was packed around noon time so I came back early the next morning and had the most of the place to myself! I hiked up the mountain and enjoyed another great view! To be honest I was surprised at how long the trail was, The whole path took 4 -5 hours and was worth every second.
Kyoto was one of the most beautiful places I have seen in Japan. Amazing Temples and Gardens, but it was a challenge since there were a lot of tourists. I would recommend going very early in the morning so you can see and enjoy everything!The ride continues! More updates coming soon!
Photos
[https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1nD-4v2WtofJOU3nHB6H57\_pbw1ZRoAIq](https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1nD-4v2WtofJOU3nHB6H57_pbw1ZRoAIq)
I made a video of this experience, video is in my profile
​
3 comments
Where did you get the bike from?
Loving your updates, keep them coming. Glad you found your phone and are getting time to experience things off the bike as well.
On my visits to Nara, I’ve gotten the impression that the deer mostly understand if you open your hands and raise them so they can see that you aren’t holding anything. ‘I’m out of food’. So far they’ve always lost interest in me when I do that.