Day 3 and last day in Nara, we went to a typical japanese garden, the Yoshiki-en garden. It has a nice, quiet atmosphere. The wind in the trees and bamboos makes a peaceful soundtrack.

We sat down under a shelter and the kids spent a few minutes drawing on their notebooks.

After the garden, while wandering in the area, we entered and visited a traditional Japanese house, once the home of a famous Japanese photographer Irie Taikichi. Our guide took us through all the rooms, told us about tatamis, sliding doors, tea room etc. The most impressive is the emptiness of this house – there are very few furniture. It feels very relaxing not to be surrounded by quantities of objects. Another big difference with Norwegian houses is the little importance given to insulation, to the benefit of the proximity to the outside, to the vegetation.

After a last walk through the deer park, we came back at the house, to eat lunch (including a Minions’ spread) and pack.

And then it was time to leave Nara, by train. We had a very nice stay here; we recovered from the flights and dived into Japan, its lifestyle and history. Next city: Kyoto, where we will meet the two other families we will be travelling with from now on.