Nara is another place we visited, just a short train ride away from Osaka. It’s very popular with visitors since its has some large sprawling parkland, home to free roaming deer. The sheer amount of greenery provides such a contrast to the densely populated cities that surround it. Like many of the popular destinations we visited, Nara also had plenty of temples, the biggest being the massive Todaiji Temple, home to Japan’s largest statue of Buddha.

Lots of Japanese temples have little wooden blocks that you can buy. I think they are either used for telling your fortune, or sometimes you get to write on them as a wish and then hang them for someone to hopefully grant at some stage. I was amazed to see just how many people bought, and the swarm of them hanging, and blowing in the wind.

We spent the day walking around the park, taking in all the sights, and if you’re really interested in the history and the different temples, I’m sure it’d be easy to spend quite a few days. Expect to pay to enter some of the temples but there are plenty of areas you get a good idea about their pristine environment.

The final thing I’d warn people about are the deer that roam around free. Considered as sacred animals, apparently seen as messengers from the gods, they roam free following people around in the hope for food. Fortunately all their antlers have been ground down to little stumps, but that doesn’t really stop them from following you.

You can even buy deer biscuits for ¥150 although the deer are smart enough to recognise when you start carrying them. Don’t bother holding the stack of them in the open, otherwise expect a constant barrage (literally!) from all angles as they try to take it from your hand. I couldn’t help but laugh at the number of tourists who ended up running, or throwing their stack of biscuits in an attempt to stop them headbutting them.