From Kii-Katsuura to Nara by train and evening in Nara

20 November 2016

Our morning at Kii-Katsuura was full of activities.

We woke up early to catch the 6.30 AM sunrise from the Sunrise Terrace in the Urashima Hotel before taking the first ferry boat of the day to the Katsuura Fish Market to view the tuna auction (see here) and then back to the Urashima for buffet breakfast and check out.

Bicycles at the Katsuura Pier in the morning. The Katsuura Fish Market is the blue building in the background.

Umbrellas at the pier – ready for the hotel guests.

After completing our Kumano Kodo journey and visit to the three Kumano Shrines, we were to travel from Kii-Katsuura to Nara for the next leg of our vacation in Japan. The Hyperdia website is a very good tool to help us plan all our train travels in Japan. We had to catch the 10.45 AM Limited Express KUROSHIO 18 train to Tennoji Station and then change to a train bound for Nara. We cannot afford to miss the Kuroshio Express train due to the infrequency of the service.

On the way to the train station, we made a brief stopover at the Sunday market (opened every Sunday from 8.00 AM to 10.00 AM) next to the Fish Market where we had earlier witnessed the tuna auction. The shops in the plaza sold both raw tuna and processed fish products. 

Stall at the Sunday market preparing some grilled tuna cheek and fillets.

 

Here we chanced upon another tuna carving show, this time with a TV crew filming it for some show.

Beheading the tuna first.

Then the collarbone or cheeks were removed. This would make two good portions of Maguro Kama SHioyaki.

Close up shot of the yellow fin of the Yellowfin Tuna. Guess how the tuna got its name.

We met the pair of Aussie ladies that we had been meeting along the Kumano Kodo again at the Kii-Katsuura Station. They were heading to Kansai International Airport for their flight home and would be alighting somewhere near Wakayama to change to another train bound for the airport. They told us their experience of crossing the Nachi mountains in pouring rain from Hongu to Nachi Taisha the day before. That was the same morning that we were walking up the Daimon-zaka slope on the opposite side of the mountain. I could imagine the challenges these elderly ladies had overcome. They were just awesome.

The journey from Katsuura to Tennoji was scenic on the initial part of the journey as the train took the coastal route and we could see nice views of the ocean on one side and farms on the other side. We passed by a few oranges farm and the fruits were in season.

As we approached Tennoji, we could see the tallest skyscraper in Japan, the Abeno Harukas which is just opposite the JR Tennoji Station. Tennoji Station is located at the south eastern part of Osaka city and there are many departmental stores, attractions, shops and restaurants in and around the busy station. We only spent enough time in Tennoji Station to grab some lunch at the upper floors of Mio Tennoji before taking the Yamatoji Line Rapid Express train to Nara. This train service is frequent, departing every 15 minutes, and the journey took only 33 minutes.

An excellent place to stay in Nara is the Super Hotel Lohas JR Nara Eki Hotel. It is connected to Nara Station via the East Exit, so getting to the hotel is convenient and easy although the lobby is located on the upper floors (not on ground floor). The check in process was swift. Our luggage that were forwarded from Kansai Airport to the hotel on the day of our arrival in Japan one week ago was stored safely and handed over to us. This hotel uses an electronic door lock for the rooms. No keys were issued, just a slip of paper with our access code.

Close to the JR Nara Station (and our hotel) is the Sanjo-Dori,. Sanjo-dori is almost like the Main Street of Nara city with many shops and restaurants.

Street of Sanjo-dori at night, glistening wet from rain earlier in the day.

From Sanjo-Dori, we walked through a covered shopping street called the Sakura Dori that led to the Kintetsu Nara Station. Kintetsu Nara Station is a railway station on the Nara Line in Nara that was operated by the private railway operator Kintetsu Railway.

Covered shopping street, Sakura Dori, at night.

Outside Kintetsu Nara Train Station with a statue of the monk Gyoki on top of a fountain and a real life monk in front.

One restaurant in Nara that was highly recommended to us was the Maguro Koya, located near the Kintetsu Nara Station. This restaurant serves excellent tuna and we had just acquired a taste for tuna after our visit to Kii-Katsuura. We found the small family-run restaurant but Sunday was the owner’s rest day. The owner was present in the restaurant and spoke a little English. He was very apologetic that he could not serve us dinner on this day, so we made a reservation for the next day.

Surprisingly, it seemed that there were more Italian restaurants than Japanese restaurants along the shopping streets in Nara. We had a nice Italian meal (pizza, pasta and beer) in the Trattoria Piano restaurant. It was a nice break after a week of Japanese food.