Nara! My love!
I was ridiculously excited to visit Nara. We hit up the shrines, ate good food, bought lots of souvenirs with that adorable deer mascot… but my primary focus was the actual deer. I really wanted to bow and feed them crackers. Yes, we got swarmed and deer don’t seem to realize just how pointy their antlers are, but eventually you learn to only feed the deer standing by themselves and it was so much fun!
People were giving them teeny tiny pieces of crackers but I decided to be generous and often gave them the whole thing. Predictably, I tore through 3 packs of deer crackers, but they were only ¥150 each and feeding and petting and bowing gave me so much enjoyment. It was well worth it.
I loved seeing the deer wander freely throughout the city. They’ll walk right by you, casually hanging out along the side of the road, and even wander into some open shops. My backyard in Canada opens into the forest so we occasionally have deer that wander in, but of course they scatter as as soon as they become aware of your presence.
As I’m typing this now, I realize I forgot to taste the deer crackers myself. I guess I have to go back.
