2005 Japan Trip - Day 2 (Part 3)

Part 3 - Saturday (Doyoubi 土曜日) Oct. 29th 2005 - After putting my Bike Friday together and changing into my rain suit (which consisted of only an old windbreaker that wasn’t all that waterproof), Shizuka-san led me off on our Nara 奈良 adventure. There were so many places to see, and because it was 1:00pm already, Shizuka-san had to decide on the best places to go.

The first place we rode to was Horyu-ji temple. Horyu-ji is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is known for having the oldest wooden buildings in the world – some dating back to the 700’s or so. I mean, can you imagine that these buildings have been standing here for over 1,300 years年! Quite impressive to say the least.

It really gave me pause to think, that here in America, our US history runs for only 230年 or so (though the history of the indigenous peoples of America and Hawaii runs MUCH longer). But here, in this land of the rising sun, people have been coming to worship on the exact ground I was standing on for over 1,300年! My mind is overwhelmed trying to comprehend the history of this place, this country, and it's people!

While unlocking our bikes in front of Horyu-ji, a Japanese gentleman strolling by asked where we were from - since I was speaking to Shizuka-san in English. He couldn’t help but ask since he could also understand and speak a little English too. After a short chat, he wished us well.


...in the soft stagnant drizzle, we pedaled off to our next destination, Todai-ji temple...

つづく...

Btw...if you want to see all the pictures (w/ comments) of my trip, click here: My Flickr Pictures of This Japan Trip . I will be adding more and more as I post more.