With a Tenugui(Traditional Japaese thin towel) in one hand,
and my Pentax Camera on the other hand.
I jumped on the train to Nara.
I wanted to avoid the heat and crowd of the people from the Gion festival.
There was no plan on me.
Nara is such an attractive city.
Not only the city but the nature.
I randomly walked into the Nara machi. The traditional district of Nara .
This beautiful destruct is not well known for foreign tourist.Most of the people are going to visit Toudaiji and park at the other side of the city.
Every corner of this town, you meet small and big temples ,shrines and nice old style houses decolated by colorful Kukuri monkies. (they protect you against the evil spirits ).
Those old shops are selling medicines, hand craft , ceramics, cafe, restaurants.
kukurizaru
My tea farmer friend from Kyushu introduced me one of the authentic Tea cafe in this little town.
This place is called "Shin-ju -Ann"(heart tree house "shinju" also means pearl)
http://homepage3.nifty.com/shinjyuan/
The house has a beautiful but small courtyard regarding to a style of traditional houses.
They have anonymous number of precious and gorgeous ceramics to treat customers.
And the tea they have are amazing.
We could not stop having a conversation for hours and hours.
I was moved by their passion for the tea.
I brought some tea for us to try .They served me a precious tea from the highland of Shizuoka.
After drinking good tea ,
Amazing! the feeling is so calm, and somehow refreshed.
We felt like we've been a friends for many years .
Such as alcohol, Tea break the wall between the people but in a very peaceful way.
I believe the essence of drinking tea culture is not just about "drinking" .The momentally pause you take for putting the leaves into the pot , see the steam, listen the boiling water,appreciate the color and taste and the time you share with others or even by yourself are included in this pleasured ceremony.
As I followed the wind,
I decided to crush in at the nice cozy guesthouse called Makura(pillow).
The young owner of this lovely place was so smiley and kind.
After drop myself for the short rest, I took a long night walk to the Kasuga-taisha shrine.
The wide deep ancient forest lying there. I was about to enter the forest in a pitch black, then somehow bounced back by the air of the real darkness and the dignity of the sacred forest.
I gave up walking into the forest and took the path to the Nigatsu-do behind of famous Toudai(big buddha) temple.
Surprisingly, mysterious lights on the lanterns were waiting for my arrival.
I refreshed myself with spring water of temple, wiped myself with Tenugui(perfect item for the random trip).
The view from the Nigatsudo veranda was superb . I could see the over view of Nara,surrounded mountains and sky behind the night shadow of unique shape of Toudai-ji roof.
I lied on the floor by myself,nice wind go through in the silent midnight temple
music of the fountain water...sense of time has lost ..
When the clock handed midnight, I slowly started walking back to my bed.
I met a lot of one night neighbor, Deers. They were singing a song each other and stop for gazing at me .
What a beautiful day and night.
I fell into a deep and sweet sleep.
cat from Shinjuan
To be continued to .....
