Last day in Nara

Hey all. The Japanese leg of my trip is winding down. I know! It went by in a flash! This is my last day in Nara, so I thought I'd do the grand walking tour as suggested by LP. 

Somehow I missed seeing these hilarious signs yesterday. I especially like the grandma with the cane getting knocked down. 

Kinda reminds me of that Christmas song. 

So, like always, I'm hanging out with the kids. Seeing the sights. Getting some culture. 

They have the buddy system in Japan, too!!

The first temple on the route, the Todai-ji Temple. 

Not exactly a golden ticket, but alright. 

Panoramic view from courtyard entrance. 

I don't think you can easily determine the scale of this building by this picture. But it's huge. 

Here. Maybe this picture can give you some perspective. The height of a normal person reaches approximately 1/2 the front door. 

The temple's focus seems to have been divided into thirds. Where front and center is the biggest Buddha I have ever seen. It dwarfs over the flanking, but still huge, adjacent statues. 

Yes, you're correct, me from the past, it does make you feel that small. 

So around the corner from the Buddhas is a pillar giving birth to a small child. 

Actually, it's another thing that you can do to get your wish to come true. BTW, I didn't notice anyone other than kids lined up for this gig. I reserve the right to publicly humiliate myself on domestic soil. 

Another picture of the giant Buddha. Once again, this guy is huge - I just looked it up: He's 52' tall and bronze. Casting this statue almost bankrupted Japan, sayeth Wikipedia ( http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/T%C5%8Ddai-ji ). 

Close by is a memorial pillar that I could see from the front entryway of Todai-ji. So I was curious what that was all about. 

You can read for yourself, if you're interested, but I'll give you the TL;DR version: commemorates Buddha's birthday. 

These three guys were hanging out next to Buddha's birthday candle. I thought they looked cool. 

A doe! A deer! A female deer! Yes, these guys were everywhere. 

So as I was walking around, a small group of Japanese students stopped me and asked me if they could ask me some questions in English. They were practicing, I didn't have anywhere to go, and who can say no to kids?!? Especially these girls! They were super sweet. 

Turns out they're in their last year of junior high. I asked them if they were looking forward to going to high school. They said yes very enthusiastically. High school must be a better experience here! Cute kids! 

Another temple. By the time I walked here I was like meh. So I turned around and walked the 3km back towards my hostel. 

Stopping to have a snack in this nice park. 

I am very happy because I had Snap Pea Crisps and a lemon soda for lunch. 

The rest of the afternoon was pretty uneventful, other than I took a 2hr nap. 

Although I still have one more night here, I should prepare my goodbyes. 

Goodbye Nara!!