Our World Trip: Osaka & Nara

It is difficult to write a cheerful report when are receiving updates on the News from the devastated region of a Country whose remarkably cheerful and happy people we met on our full-day tour from Osaka.

Our stop in Osaka was the gateway to Japan and its ancient culture. Interrupted by only occasional Internet and telephone contact due to the legal requirement to turn off the ship’s passenger data link, we have only today (Sunday) been able to update the blog. Everything on the ship has been affected by the dreadful events in Northern Japan and it seems ironic that we have now had 2 earthquakes on one sector of the trip, both with appalling consequences.

The modern port of Osaka was our starting point for a full day inland to see Nara and Kyoto – cultural treasures which have been undamaged in the past a remain undamaged today., unlike Osaka itself, which was almost completely flattened Our tour guide took us thoroughly through the history of the sites, teaching us to count to ten and to sing ‘Mary had a little lamb’ in Japanese! (Much to the amusement of the Japanese family on our adjacent dinner table) An important issue was to appreciate that Japan has two ‘religions’ – Buddhism and Shinto – and that most holy places contain Temples to both.

Suffice to say that Nara was a fantastic location with a Buddhist Temple complex containing the largest timber-framed building in the World. The deer (which are sacred) are said to be descended from a white deer on which a Buddha arrived in the city; they are remarkably tame and will eat anything you carry, even sniffing in your pockets!

The next stop was the Shinto temple, famous for its 3000 lanterns which are lit twice a year. 2000 of these are carved from stone and line the paths through the woodland approaching the Temple. A further 1000 are in bronze and are hung adjacent to the shrine itself. An amazing cultural experience.

We thought readers might like to see a couple of shots from a World Cruise Reception and Butterfly Ball to illustrate life on a ‘LINER’ – not a cruise ship!