So many animals to see today, and all in the wild. The monkeys at Arashiyama were cheeky as expected, and there were hundreds of them. A short distance away is the tall and dense Arashiyama Bamboo forest with many couples taking pictures in kimonos.

An hour’s train ride away we found Nara and not long after we moved away from the Main Street did we see deer roaming about. They are very used to people. Maybe because there are deer crackers for sale to feed them. The deer have learned manners to a certain degree. They bow to you to get a cracker. And if you hold up your palms they understand you’re out of crackers. I lied to so many deer. If your crackers are visible they go after you and pull on your coat or butt their head against you.

I also saw the biggest Buddha I’ve seen in my life in Nara: 15 meters tall.

After dark we stopped at Fushimi Inari shrine with its hundreds of vermilion ports creating an awe inspiring setting when lit up in the dark.