Kamakura.

On July 8th I took a trip to Kamakura, which is in Kanagawa prefecture, south of Tokyo. It was my longest trip yet, 1.5-2 hours in total including changes (plus an accident where I got on a train going in completely the wrong direction -_-).

I planned out a route before hand to take in most of the city. From Kita-kamakura station I walked up the Daibutsu hiking trail, about 4km from near the station up to the Daibutsu, which is a giant Buddha statue. The hike wasn't too bad, it was swelteringly hot which wasn't too pleasant but it was an enjoyable route with lots and lots of greenery to enjoy.

About halfway up the trail is the Zeniarai Benten shrine, where people wash their money in the belief that it will double in value. There were also lots of hydrangeas in bloom along the way which were very pretty. After a few more kilometres, I arrived at the Daibutsu. For 200 yen, you can go in and see it, and it was definitely a very impressive piece of art. Unfortunately the sun was so hot I couldn't stay to look at it for long ^_^

After that I caught the train back to Kamakura station. The train there is a private company, and it's like a mix between a train and a tram. At the station, I caught the bus (for the first time here) to another temple I had wanted to visit, Hokokuji. There, you pay a few hundred yen to go into the bamboo garden, which was possibly the best bit of the whole day. It was only small, but very peaceful and I may have taken far too many photos of bamboo...

On the way back I stopped off at Tsurugaoka Hachimangu shrine, which was very busy due to some kind of festival happening that evening, and they had lots of ribbons out decorating various poles and signs.

I'm pleased I visited Kamakura, as it was a different experience to the norm of Tokyo and I was glad I managed to get so much done in a day trip plus get a good bit of exercise ^_^