travel info
Nara is reachable by JR train from Osaka (about 45 minutes) or Kyoto (about 35 minutes).
From Osaka, take the Osaka Nara Line on tack 1. From Kyoto, take the JR Nara Line.
It sounds simple but it's not... here's my travel log:
25/11/06 8:23 am Notes Train from Himeji to shin Osaka
25/11/06 10:20 am Notes Trying to get to Nara from shin Osaka The staff in JR ticket counter suggested some route that involved several switch in some station on some foreign planets...
After taking a couple of wrong trains, I finally decided to head to Osaka, from where a train goes directly to Nara.
The Osaka train station was quite confusing, many people, liked myself, stared at the route map, trying to decide the route to their destination. Many, I suspected from their outfit, had been glaring at the route map since the Edo era, and yet they still haven't figure a way out...
So it seems I could take the Yamato ji line at 10:25am, which goes directly to Nara. It is not because there isn't enough signs, there are many, big and clear. But there are simply too many trains, too many choices is not a good thing
The deer biscuit is for the deer--not made of deer. Whatever you do, don't eat it youself. If mistakenly eaten, it will turn a person into a deer. Many deer in Nara Park were former tourists who couldn't read the Japanese instructions.
I didn't try this tea house in Nara, it's close to Kasuga Taisha Shrine. It might be good because it was very busy. The surrounding has the mood of the autumn.
Coco house has a large selection of curry dishes. Can allow customer to select spicy level and rice quantity. English menu available.
The curry restaurant is along the main road outside the JR station. 550Y for an eggplant curry dinner (not exactly vegetarian, but close enough).
Note: the GPS location on this picture is a bit off, it should be closer to the JR train station, not the park (probably about 20 minutes west of the location shown on the map).