Nara and Kyoto

 So we took the train from Osaka to Nara and saw the big Buddha and all the deer (more aggressive than the ones in Miyajima, likely because you’re allowed to feed the Nara deer and you aren’t supposed to feed the Miyajima deer.). 

Then we hopped the train to Kyoto and Milo and Sean became Samuri for an hour.

We had dinner at a teppanyaki restaurant and Milo said it was the best beef he’d ever eaten. 

We all retired to our rooms. Milo and Mayumi got up before the crack of dawn and hiked 5 km up the Fushimi-Inari pilgrimage through multitudes of tori gates and 46+ flights of stairs. They returned after a couple of hours, we all had breakfast, (where Milo got to eat the best French toast ever), then allowed them a short nap before going out again. 

Dave and I visited aBuddhist temple and garden while the rest went to visit monkeys. The plan was to then walk to the bamboo grove and after that visit the Golden Pavilion but it was 36 degrees and we opted for an air conditioned nap at the hotel instead.

We said goodbye to Mayumi (she has another real group tour leaving). We will all miss Mayumi, likely Sean in particular since the task of ferrying us around now falls to him.