Weird Fish

This morning we took a train to the small town of Horyu-ji, to visit the temple which contains the oldest surviving wooden structures in the world, according to the publicity. As the extra of the main hall and 5storey pagoda shows, they are remarkably well-preserved.

The main blip is a detail of the roof carvings that adorn the roofs of the gateways all around the site and there’s an extra of the face that is under this weird fish helmet.

Another extra shows me at the main gate, just to prove I’m here.

We spent the afternoon back at Nara exploring the old merchant’s part of the town, the Naramachi district, which contains many of the old wooden buildings from the late 19th century. The final extra shows a detail of the garden in one of the houses, through a typical bamboo screen.

It’s now Sunday but we’ve been out of decent Wi-Fi contact for the last 48 hours so I’m even further behind. More back-blips to follow.

Many thanks to all of you who have been keeping up with and commenting on our adventures. We’re in one place for a few days now so hope to catch up a bit.