A Temple Tour of Nara and Kyoto (EF Tours Day 1)

A Temple Tour of Nara and Kyoto (EF Tours Day 1)

[Music] Join us on our spring break journey to Japan with the FTours, 11 travelers from Ohio and 32 from California. And of course, our fearless travel director, Sebastian. Whether you’re planning to go on your own with a group or even with the FTour specifically, this series will give you some hints on what to expect on a spring break trip to Japan. So, buckle up as we backtrack the golden route. I’m Mike Dalton. I’m a teacher and a traveler, and this is Dalton’s detours. After leaving Cincinnati on Saturday morning at 7:00 a.m., we arrived at Osaka’s airport on Sunday night. An EF rep met us at the airport, and we took a bus to our hotel outside of Kyoto. We arrived around 9:30. Exhausted and already jetlagged, we of course made our first trip to 7-Eleven for a late night snack. This is, of course, a must. We are staying in the Sun Royal Hotel in Kamayoka, which is roughly 15 mi west of Kyoto. The hotel is small, the breakfast was solid, and overall it’s a nice quiet area. Not really much to do here in the evenings, but it’s a cool little town. So, we are on day one. So, we flew from Cincinnati to Boston, Boston to Narita in Tokyo, and then Narita to Osaka. We’re all exhausted, but you can see here behind me, right here, is our hotel. Yeah, we’re going to head to N today. Basically, before heading into Kyoto, we start our trip with a visit to N, Japan’s first permanent capital. Due to its historical importance, the city remains full of cultural treasures, including some of Japan’s oldest and largest temples. In Shinto mythology, deer are considered to be messengers of the gods, and as such, Nar’s deers have been designated as a national treasure. It costs about a dollar to get some treats to feed these deer, and they will harass you, but it’s it’s actually pretty cool watching them kind of wander around. Spring is of course one of the most beautiful seasons of which to visit, particularly when the cherry blossoms are in full bloom. But unfortunately for us, they were not. So hopefully in Tokyo. Our tour guide for the day took us to some of the main sites. And we started with the Kasaka Taiishi Shrine. Now, personally, this is one of my favorite little areas to walk through. This mysterious Shinto shrine is concealed amid the trees of the heart of Nora Park and is one of the city’s most beautiful attractions. Famous for the thousands of stone and bronze lanterns that line its pathways and hang suspended from its building, this shrine is just a [Music] mustsee. And before heading to the main temple, we decided to stop at Nagatsido, a much smaller temple that offers a beautiful scene of N. We’re not even doing the walking thing. [Music] [Music] When we finally reached to Dai Temple, one of the most famous temples in all of Japan, it more lives up to its reputation. The opposing main hall is the largest wooden building in the world. And inside you’ll find a stunning 15 m bronze statue of Buddha. It’s genuinely impressive. I’m always amazed at the size of the statue. [Music] [Music] Do I come? [Music] This was our first chance to get goin which are special stamps that are given at shrines and temples. You can also buy little eky stamp books where you can get stamps from the temples that are not officially goen or train stations and things like that. It was something I suggested to the students that I thought might be kind of fun. [Music] [Music] After saying goodbye to our tour guide, we were given two hours for lunch and shopping in N. We went to the Higashamuki shopping street. I think that’s how you say it. The students scattered to get their first real taste of Japan. And to my dismay, amidst their panic, several of them went to McDonald’s. I really don’t have words for this, but you know, in the end, they pay the money. They’re going to do whatever they want. I’ve learned from years of teaching and dealing with teenagers. I just merely give suggestions. But I took a big suggestion from our tour director, and I ate at a place called Tonkatu Gango Nara. And I had to wait in line for a little bit. Probably took 15, 20 minutes. I have learned in Japan that these lines go fairly quick, but I wanted to try the tonkatu. This is a Japanese dish that consists of breaded and deep fried pork cutlet. It is a popular dish in Japan, often being served with shredded cabbage, some kind of tonkatu or curry sauce, and steamed rice. And there’s usually various sauces and dressings that are provided. This was a good first meal in Japan on this particular trip. After lunch, we got back on our bus and headed into Kyoto for the first time. And today’s attraction, the Kiomia Zadera Temple. It literally means pure water temple and is one of the most celebrated temples in all Japan. Founded in 780 and it was made a UNESCO site in 1994. It is really known for its wooden stage that juts out from its main hall 42 ft above the hillside. The stage affords nice views of the numerous cherry and maple trees below. And again, unfortunately, we didn’t quite get to see it at its full glory. The main hall, which together with the stage, was built without the use of nails. I think the students really enjoyed walking around dealing with the water purification. Uh it was just nice to wander. Even being jetlagged, this was a nice way to kind of finish off before we headed off to dinner. At a lot of shrines and temples, visitors can participate in drawing omakuji, which are fortunes written on strips of paper. So, some of the students tried this out. If you get a good fortune, you keep it, but if you get a bad one, you tie it off on a little area they have, and that gets rid of that bad [Music] fortune. Heat. Heat. [Music] And our dinner tonight was back at the hotel. And unfortunately for me, it was more Japanese curry. Now, I like Japanese curry. Really should have kind of asked what was for dinner in the evening before I had it twice in a day. Usually on these trips, there’s one night you eat at the hotel, but for the most part, we eat at restaurants in town. After dinner, we had a little bit of a chance to kind of wander around the town and see what was happening. And as I feared, there really wasn’t much going on. In fact, the city was pretty much shut down. We stopped at a 7-Eleven. Um, we went down to the river, had a little walk. Um, it was a it was a nice little town, but just not a whole lot to do. I know when we get to Tokyo, our hotel is much more centrally located, so we’ll have a bit more of a chance to explore there. Overall, good first day. We’re all exhausted, but looking forward to tomorrow. This is Dalton’s Detours. [Music] [Music]

We kick off our Spring Break trip to Japan with a visit to Nara and a temple in Kyoto. We will visit Kyoto, Mount Fuji, and Tokyo on this week long adventure.

TABLE OF CONTENTS:
00:00-01:35. Introduction
01:36-02:19. Nara
02:23-02:56. Kasuga Taisha Shrine
02:57-03:48. Nigatsu-do Temple
03:49-05:49. Todaiji Temple
05:50-06:58. Tonkatsu Ganko Nara
06:59-09:10. Kiyomizu-dera Temple (Kyoto)
09:11-10:14. Outro

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