Japan: Osaka & Nara {Pt. 2}

TL:DR: I made friends with deer.

While traveling the southern part of Japan, I made it an effort to visit Osaka and Nara. I focused on going to animal centric attraction. For Osaka, I wanted to go to their aquarium. For Nara, the Deer Park took up the majority of my itinerary.

When going to either places, I highly recommend buying the JR Pass before visiting Japan. This pass gives you access to the Shinkansen or bullet train, which takes you to pretty much anywhere in the country. Here’s the link to the JR Pass.

Anyways, Osaka was only about an hour away from Kyoto. There was only one place that I wanted to visit and that was the aquarium. Compared to Okinawa, the Osaka aquarium was bit smaller but it had all the animals and sea creatures that you would want to see. To be honest, all I really wanted to see were otters and whale sharks.

Outside the aquarium, there were food stalls mostly at every corner. The most memorable one that I went to was a small truck that made crème brulée. It didn’t take long to have this french delicacy in my hand. It was great.

After Osaka, I headed to Nara. The main attraction in Nara was the Deer Park. This park was pretty entertaining as there were deer EVERYWHERE. The deer were free to roam wherever they please and they were free to sleep wherever they please. Not only can you watch the deer, you can also interact with them.

There were little carts that you can purchase these crackers for 150 Japanese Yen, which equates to $1.30 USD. In the event that you did have these biscuits, the deer just flock to you. It’s like they have this special power or maybe they just can smell it.

These deer will bow to you when you bow to them. It’s pretty cute and they know how to work the crowd.

Nestled inside the deer park was a temple that housed the largest Buddha. You have the opportunity to walk around the temple as the Buddha.

If you have the opportunity to go to Nara and Osaka, do it!

Anyways, here’s a pic of some mango ice cream because ice cream rules everything around me.