Deer, Oh Deer.

If i had to move over to Japan and was allowed to choose what city or town I was allowed to live in Nara would be my choice without hesitation. I seriously love it here. More so than the bright lights of Tokyo or the port side sounds of Yokohama. It isn`t to big to make you feel overwhelmed and it isn`t small enough to bore you.

Today, me and Hayley decided to go and visit the second Daibutsu of our trip in Japan. This Daibutsu is supposedly the biggest in Japan and is enclosed in a temple unlike the Buddha of Kamakura which sits under the roof of the sky. Before we got there however we had to trek through a very beautiful park, its tidy appearance and brilliant water features are only made more beautiful by the wild deer that walk around as free as they like. That`s right, deer, just strolling around left, right and center. And they are incredibly tame, the first deer we saw didn`t flee as we approached it and didn`t scare when I outstretched my hand to pat it on the head.  It is incredible. A place were nature still rules and is not disturbed by the destruction of our concrete creations. The deer literally made my day.

On the approach to the temple there are several vendor ladies selling deer crackers. After a moments debate we decided deer crackers were the way to go. What happened next played out at twice the speed of normal time. As soon as the lady had my money and the crackers were in my hands I was surrounded by about 15 deer. Tugging at my shirt with their teeth and ramming me from every side. One deer`s antler even poked me in an unfortunate place. However this rush was not an act of aggression, oh no, It was just playful, but It still created an adrenaline rush that I had not counted on. I decided the best way to get around this situation was to walk backwards throwing crackers without thought, I was even so stupid with my throws that a couple of crackers simply hit the deer in the face. It was however an amazing experience, It didn`t scare me, it simply filled me with joy, interacting with these deer through feeding, it was like we created a bond, a playful bond that no one will be able to have felt but us.

After the attack and quick depletion of the crackers, Hayley made me aware that she did not get to feed the deer like I had. I offered to buy more crackers for her, but she passed the offer. There was simply too many deer around and her swarm for the crackers would be twice as worse than mine.

This Daibutsu was greater than Kamakura`s. I think it is because there is more too see in the temple that it is enclosed in. Also there were English explanations to why this Buddha was important and what it meant. Something that the Kamakura Daibutsu lacked. There were more statues to gaze at and more decorations to hold the eyes attention. Don`t get me wrong the Kamakura Daibutsu was amazing, incredible even, the Nara one was just better.

Also it has become clear to me throughout our Japan visit that Japanese schools teach kids that religion is important. I think that it is good that they do. They don`t force them to believe in the religion, they just show them that religion is an important part of the country`s history and culture. My thought is that every country should do this. To keep our past in the present is an amazing way to think about why we are here and how things have changed to make civilization what it is.

Thanks for reading.
The Adventure Continues.