Nara Park (奈良公園)

Nara Park, famous for its deers that wander around freely, is home to some of Nara's famous tourist spots. Although we technically got into the most famous one, the Todaiji (東大寺) or Great Eastern Temple, we weren't able to see the big Buddha at Daibutsuden (大仏殿). But it really didn't lessen the experience of visiting Nara, with the colorful autumn trees around, and the deers that entertained the people.

Coming from Kyoto, Nara Park is actually just a singe train ride away. You can use either the JR Nara line (JR奈良線) with its Rapid services, the limited express service of Kintetsu Railways (近鉄特急), and in our case, the normal Kintetsu express train, which actually runs in 2 lines, the Kintetsu-Kyoto Line (近鉄京都線急行) until Yamato-Saidaiji (大和西大寺) that connects to the Kintetsu-Nara Line (近鉄奈良線) bound for Kintetsu-Nara (近鉄奈良行). I chose the latter because it's cheap, it was actually free using our Kansai Surutto Pass. For the Kintetsu limited express train, the base fare of 610円 is free with the Kansai Surutto Pass, but the express charge of 500円 is not. I haven't tried the JR line, but I think it's included in many JR passes available.

Walking to the park took us around 30 minutes from the train station. Signs and maps were all around, so it wasn't really difficult. Google Maps was also a very good friend, though it led us not to the main entrance of Todaiji, the Nandaimon Gate (南大門), but somewhere on the side of the Daibutsuden. Anyway, it was the shortest path, so there were no complains.

As we approached Todaiji, there were some smaller temples and gardens, but they were not quite interesting, so we just went on towards the Daibutsuen. Deers were already all around, though I think the ones in between Daibutsuen and Nandaimon were friendlier. You can actually buy rice crackers and feed them. That was also the time that I thought getting inside the Daibutsuen would take too much of our time because of all the people trying to get in.

Daibutsuden

Nandaimon

After taking some pictures, we just walked around the park and enjoyed its beauty. On our way back to Kintetsu-Nara station, we took the other path, starting from Nandaimon towards the main road, which led us directly to the train station. Given more time, we could have visited other temples, but walking around the park was already satisfying for me.