Todaiji Temple, Nara

Trip Start Mar 18, 2004
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Trip End Apr 12, 2006


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Tuesday, November 23, 2004

November 23rd was a national holiday, so Chris, Kyle, Joanne, Chris Rule, Andrew, Naomi, and Fumi took the opportunity to visit Nara, a small city just east of Kyoto. Five of us rented a car (which Kyle drove) and we made it to Nara in a little over three hours, thanks to an oft-confused Navi computer and some new expressways. Riding though the countryside was absolutely *amazing* though, because it was the height of fall, and the leaves on the mountainsides were all different shades of red and orange. On those rare occasions where there were no power lines snaking through the trees, you almost felt like you were *actually* in the middle of nowhere. Minus the expressway of course ;)

Nara's most famous attraction is Nara Park, a large green space populated by semi-domesticated deer and a number of shrines, temples, and museums. The most impressive of these is Todaiji Temple, a giant structure which houses the Daibutsu (Great Buddha), a giant bronze statue over 20 metres high (67 feet). Todaiji Temple was originally built in the 8th century AD, but burned down several times. As a result, the current structure is the third incarnation of the temple, and despite being 33% smaller than the original, it is still the largest wooden structure in the world.

We didn't have much time to spend at the park, but we did get to wander through the temple and see a number of other shrines and structures. These pictures were all taken by Chris--I took the opportunity to use my 35mm film camera instead.
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