nara

day 46



the deer are everywhere around todai-ji. you'd think that with all the tourist biscuits they'd be placid and content, but instead they're inquisitive and ravenous. they ate my map.

this isn't the temple, just the gate.






the main temple is big. really big. you can see about half of it in the background, and none of the roof. like almost every structure in japan, it has burned down twice, once in the 12th century, and again in the late 16th. it was last rebuilt in 1692, and although it is only two thirds the original size, it remains the largest wood building in the world.






when it was first built in 751, it only took 4 years to build. the buddha inside is the largest gilt-bronze statue in the world - 15m high. about the same size as the kamakura buddha, if you've seen that...






this isn't it. i liked this guy more though - he was just outside.
















these little guys are rememberances of the lost souls of unborn children.






pagodas are holds for relics. you can see the bottom story of this one has been enlarged and an extra roof added, which i think wrecks the line, but i guess they needed the space.






there are acres of gravel, and these fellows are doing a fine job.











the train back from nara was not the nozomi express. you have to have been living here for a while to understand why this just looks so wrong.






this is the entrance to the place we ate at. i can't help thinking the passage way looks easy to defend. the food was worth it too.