Nara is Japan's first permanent capital, full of historic treasures and old temples. It is also home to hundreds of free roaming deer, which they call as "Shinto" or messenger from the gods.
For our Nara day trip, we bought the 1 Day Kintetsu Rail Pass (Adult Rate is Y1500 and Child Rate is Y750) from the airport.
This pass gave us access to trains leaving/arriving at the Osaka-Namba Station via the Kintetsu Line and Nara Kotsu buses traversing the Nara attractions via a bus loop.
(Tip: You can only use the free train via the Kintetsu Line and it only covers regular trains, use of the Limited Express requires additional payment.)
Our first stop is Kofukuji Temple which is a short hike from the Kintetsu Nara Station. Kofukuji used to be the family temple of one of the most powerful clan in Nara.
(TIP: Deer crackers are sold everywhere in the park. Deer would bow to be fed these treats).
From Nara Park, we made our way uphill to Todaiji Temple "Great Eastern Temple". It is one of Japan's most significant temples and is a known landmark of Nara.
There was an ongoing event the day we came and the road leading to Todaiji was festive and lined with street food vendors.
It was nice to see this parade of locals in traditional costumes.
The grand Nandaimon Gate leading to Todaiji Temple.
Inside the gates...
While there, check also the Todaiji Museum and the Nara National Museum, they have the best treasured collections of Buddhist artifacts I have seen. We entered both, but we were not allowed to take photos.
The best part of today's tour is the side shopping...
I got here Japanese folding fans "Sensu" for Y800, hand towels "Tenugi" for Y600 and deer themed key chains priced as Y150+.
There were lots of snacks and sweets, but I think it is cheaper to buy these at the airport after clearing immigrations (where it is duty free and stuffs bought inside are excluded from your carry on baggage allowance).
Hubby who loves strawberries, just can't say no to these plump strawberries. He said "they (yes the strawberries) were calling his name)". He bought 2 packs and ate them on our way back to Kintetsu Station.
We spent about 4 hours roaming Nara, before heading to our next destination "Namba Walk" for some souvenir shopping.
We got on the bus going back to Kintetsu Nara Station and took the train back to Osaka-Namba.
Our "Namba Walk" stops:
We first went to Bic Namba to scout for Nintendo Switch, which we found was 50% cheaper in Japan compared buying the unit in Manila ~ unfortunately it was out of stock.
With so many food options in Osaka, deciding where to eat could be overwhelming. Here is a tip: If you are not sure what to eat, just follow the crowd.
The crowd led us to: 551 Horai
We got some pork buns for take-out and they were delicious (Warning: also quite filling).
Crowd also were lining up at Rikuro's. Rikuro serves freshly baked cheesecakes which is said to rival Pablo's.
There were really good (light and fluffy) and quite liked it more than Pablo's, which is too creamy and sweet for my liking.
My husband liked Pablo's more though (There were no Pablo's nearby, but chanced on some premium Pablo's cheesecake at the airport).
Can't go home without having Takoyaki (There were so many to choose from, it was crazy. We bought this from Takoyaki Douraku Wanaka)
Cosmetics and Beauty Products Shopping Haven ~ I literally went gaga. I bought so many (for personal consumption) I lost track counting (and budgeting). I bought these precious at Sugi Pharmacy.
(I will write about my beauty loots in a separate blog).
We needed an additional luggage for our loots and dropped by
Jaguar Kaban -ten for bags. They were one of the cheapest I found about in the area. I got an Anello bag and a luggage (to carry my Osaka loots). My Anello cost Y4000 and the luggage bag (hand-carry size) about Y3500 (inclusive of tax) ~ not bad.
Let me end our Day 3 with a tip:
When shopping always go for tax free stores.
I love our Osaka Day 3.
I hope you didn't miss our Day 2 Osaka City Adventure ~ please click the link below:
