On the Road. chapter 2

After a good nights sleep on a futon in a room the size of a walk in closet, it was time to return to Nara in the early morning. Lucky for me there was a constant light mist of rain which kept most people at home. Once I passed thousands of stone lanterns, I came to a mountain path with many forks and twists to get lost in. For hours I enjoyed every peaceful moment of aimless wandering.



Once reaching the top, I found a large temple full of, not tourists, but monks! There wasn't another camera, or pair of jeans in sight. I felt like I had slipped back to a time long forgotten by today's society in Japan. There were no cell phones here, no vending machines or convenience stores. No sounds of Japanese pop music coming through speakers in the lamp posts. Most importantly...no blonde Japanese.





I hung around until dark, hoping to see the stone lanterns lit in all their glory. When I realized they weren't going to be, I thought it best to get out of this place before night fell. There were no street lamps to guide my way, and those deer could make some pretty scary noises.

On my way down the mountain I came back to the temple with its doors now closed, but the warm light of the lanterns begged me to take a picture.



It was a great day of relaxed travelling.



Walking to the train station, I was hit with a hunger beyond measure. Under the cover of the shopping alley, searching for something cheap and big to eat, I heard a young guy singing his heart out and playing his acoustic like it was his last day on earth. I requested a few old Japanese 70s songs, which he suprisingly knew every word to, and chatted it up with him. Before I walked away, he asked a lady who was carrying atleast 15 shopping bags to take our picture, when his girlfriend was sitting right there the whole time like a lazy bum.



Can't remember his name anymore. But I'll never forget those teeth.



I made my way back to my hotel in the GHETTO of Japan, reading 星の王子様Hoshi no Oojisama (lit. Prince of the Stars or The Little Prince) on the way.