Kamakura- a quaint little town of temples

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We spent a lovely day in Kamakura, a seaside town an hour south of Tokyo by train. It was a hot day and thankfully, Marcus brought an umbrella which I used as a parasol to keep the sun from burning me (like it did the past few days in Tokyo).

We meandered around the town, buying souvenirs, tasting tiny morsels and buying food and gifts to eat and bring home. We ate a squashed octopus paper snack called Tako-senbei. It looked like a sheet of marbled paper, very pretty. It was tasty and very different to anything we eat at home. We were going to return for some Jako-yaki, a similar dish to Tako-yaki, except with white bait inside instead of octopus, however we forgot until it was too late and it had shut. There were also some interesting donut choices in this town.

We went to visit a female/family temple and the Giant Buddha and Marcus bought a goodluck charm to help his leg heal (I am wondering whether it will ever heal!) The Gardens were beautiful. We took shade as much as possible as it was at least thirty degrees.

The beach was a short walk from our guest house, Luna Inn. Our room was on the fourth floor (with no lift) and big windows looking out to the street to people watch. It was a comfortable, but basic room. We had to return to the guest house to change into our swimmers to go for a swim. It was volcanic, black sand. The water was a beautiful temperature. We would have stayed in the water for an hour had it not been for the rubbish on the beach, the plastic bags in the water and the jelly fish. We got out and walked along the beach then back through the narrow streets to our accommodation to rest in the air-conditioning and pack my bags for tomorrow. Marcus is bringing both bags to Gora, as I am off to go hiking.

We had a very relaxing day, enjoyed ice-creams and went out for sushi for dinner. Marcus wanted to buy a Kamakura cheesecake (local speciality) but didn’t, thinking he would buy it later, then the shop was shut. I bought him a tiny one instead, not the same. We also got food for the twin trips and hiking Mt Fuji for tomorrow so I was organised in advance.

I had to go to bed early as I had a very early start with trains to catch to Gotemba.

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