Beez Neez now Chy Whella

To Nara

Big Bear and Pepe Millard

Thu 26 Oct 2017 22:37

To Nara

A short travel day today from Kyoto to Nara so we made the most of a slack morning tired after our long day yesterday. Check out at eleven, that done we took a slow bimble to the station where at the last minute we saw two young ladies in kimonos.

We sorted some train tickets out for the week to come and were last on to our train as the doors closed. We stood next to the drivers end had the train been going that way. Bear happily swinging from one of the many doughnuts. The train was full for a change of tourists, many from Australia.

Kyoto was soon left behind and we were out into the countryside.

Loved this man in his coolie hat and wellies.

I needed a closer look.

The houses looked more Japanese.

Crossing the Kizu River in flood from Typhoon Lan (also called Typhoon 21 - number 22 is brewing and coming soon).

Bear’s trigger finger came out when he met his new friend at Nara Station.

Todays twenty eight mile journey.

Coming out of the station we found ourselves in bright, warm sunshine (twenty four degrees) – a real change from the cold, wet north (we hit one degree in Furano and four in Kushiro). We took the twenty minute bimble to our digs at a very slow pace taking in our new surroundings and stopped at our first cemetery. The lovely entrance.

Resting people, not sure what the writing is but we’ll find out.

The shrine at the top of the stairs.

Bear working out where we are.

At just before one we rolled into our hostel, the nice young lady with perfect English (American accent) said as our room was ready there was no need to wait until three o’clock. Whilst neither of us will be capable of falling out of bed, Beds had to agree, it is one of the best sleeping tools we have had yet. The pillows are firm feather and wonderful.

No one will be able to accuse us of having a party in the bathroom but its fit for purpose and has ‘one of those toilets’ that I immediately set the seat to high.......Thank you, First Mate Millard. Steady.......The baths may be short but they are incredibly deep and that makes for a marvellous change. I had a shower (good and powerful) and we were ready to head out for our first Nara bimble and find something for late lunch.

We were surprised to find (in this day and age) that our sliding windows opened all the way. We are on the fifth floor of five and these are our views right and left. We are up a side road off the main road, no cars and perfectly quiet.

Returning later after a successful bimble, Oak Hostel on the left. We took this picture in the lift to reassure everyone that we are not fading away. There have been comments on FB how skinny we look, this is to show that the ‘diet’ was all a trick of the camera angle. Here in Japan there is absolutely no chance of weight loss not with the chicken escallops and chocolate éclairs we have become addicted to. In fact, not only haven’t I had to eat my flip flop, (Bear has flirted with one lunch of sushi) we have had a huge choice of food from many, many countries.

ALL IN ALL A SWEET JOURNEY INTO SUNSHINE

NICE TO BE OUT OF THE MADDENING CROWD