Kamakura

Mike and I went to Kamakura on Saturday. We'd heard that it's a great place to go to escape the city and I have to say that I agree, or I did once we got off the train! We took the train to Kita-Kamakura, about an hour from Tokyo Station, and the city seemed to sprawl on endlessly all the way there. We even went through Yokohama without realising we'd left Tokyo until the train pulled into the station.

Once we got off the train though things were a bit different. There was one guy waiting at a ticket window at the exit to the platform. He was holding a cardboard box and people were dropping their tickets in the box before leaving the station. Directly to our left was Engaku-ji, the Temple of Spirit, one of Kamakura's many temples. According to the wee booklet we received (along with a ticket) upon paying our ¥300 each, it was the centre of Zen in the Kanto area during the Meiji Era (1868 - 1912).

There was quite a bit to see including a very big bell at the top of a set of steep steps. More exciting was the little lookout on the other side of the path where we bought shaved ice with strawberry syrup and fruit with red bean jam to sustain us on the walk down. Once again there was a ticket system: we ordered our food and the lady at the counter gave two plastic tokens (colour-coded) to another lady who passed them on to the wee kitchen next door and within minutes we were presented with delicious food and two glasses of nice cold water.

After Engaku-ji we walked back over the train tracks past a delicious looking green pond which was once part of the temple grounds, before the train tracks ran through them. We found the next temple in the guidebook, Jochi-ji. We passed this one by on our way to the Daibutsu Hiking Course. As soon as we were off the tar-sealed roads and onto the dirt path the temperature seemed to go from searing heat to pleasant sunshine. A lot of the path was through the trees and we could no longer hear the cars - hooray! It was pretty tough going in the sun though, up and down hills, over tree roots, down steps cut into clay and shored up with sand bags ...

We eventually came to a clearing with (what else!) vending machines and another shrine and some concrete benches beneath shady trees. What better place to stop for lunch, we thought. So I spent the next 30 minutes trying to coax Mike into eating his lunch while all he wanted to do was play with the spiders and ants!

Further along the Hiking Trail we came to a tunnel in the side of the hill which lead to Zeniarai Benten (money-washing benten). According to tradition, money washed in its spring is guaranteed to double at the very least. Not immediately of course! But you wash your money in the spring (baskets are provided) and let it dry naturally and then wait for the magic to occur at some later date. That explains all the signs around in english which merely said "DRIES NATURALLY."

The real highlight of Zeniarai Benten was the squirrels! As we past the final souvenir shop we saw a squirrel playing on the railings behind the shop. We went down past the displays for a closer look. Then I spotted another squirrel hiding in the trees. Then another, then another. Pretty soon the original squirrel came out for a closer look at Mike and I, skipping along the souvenir displays and then leaping from the railing to the awning over the shop entrance! More and more squirrels came out of the trees, running along the railings, the guttering, the displays - two even went in through the open window into the shop!

After that stop we followed a path down to a road and found our way into Kamakura town where we looked round random shops, drank Japanese drinks from 7/11 and scored an extra map from the tourist information centre at the train station. By about 4pm we were knackered! So we waited for the train back to Tokyo and made our way home again. We were pretty disappointed with ourselves when we realised it would have been much quicker to get on the train to Shinjuku rather than Tokyo Station, but we still managed to avoid the 12 minute walk when changing stations by taking ANOTHER train ;) We were tired, OK!

PS - I am not going to make any comment on the ABs debacle later that night which we went out to the pub to watch.

PPS - I had better get going to my dinner date as the electronic 5pm Bells are chiming ;) I will add photos later!