Kamakura

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For Rod's final day in Japan we made the day trip to Kamakura, it's rated right up there with Nikko for Shrines, Temples, and other cultural "stuffs". Could have started off better, the instructions on how to get there was pretty bad. We got the Kamakura JR Pass, but everything was in Japanese and no instructions provided. After much wandering we figured out the proper track AND proper train, and were on our way. Kamakura is a small village, small being a relative term. Our first stop was at a Zen Buddhist Temple, Kencho-ji. Never been to a Zen temple before. It's quite an impressive and active Temple, with people meditating and a beautiful Zen Garden. Unfortunately it was a 15 minute walk up hill in the heat and sun, so at the end of it we were pretty wiped.

The second stop we made was at the Great Buddha, a giant statue that built in the 1200s. Unfortunately in the 1500s a massive Tsunami Wave destroyed the surrounding buildings, and ever since it's stood outside. This is pretty impressive since we never actually saw the coast line, one heck of a wave... This area was pretty busy with school children and other tourists. One very unique aspect is the fact you could actually go INSIDE the Buddha. It was pretty dark and the heat was stifling, but still a rather cool feature. After grabbing some "soft cream" ice cream we decided to call it a day and headed back into Tokyo. I managed to get some laundry done before calling it a night.

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