Last Sunday, I did my very first traveling in Japan, with my friends Daryn and Sarah. We spent the first night in Kamakura and the second night in Tokyo. Short recap: it was awesome.
Now, for the long recap:
Sunday morning, I got up early and walked 40 minutes to the Isesaki train station. I've ridden the train alone before, but only to Maebashi (which is 15 minutes away), so even going the 30 minutes to Takasaki was a big deal to me. In Takasaki, I took the Shinkansen (the bullet train) to Tokyo. The Shinkansen is awesome. It's a nice, smooth ride, very comfortable and with great views during the day. Most of what I saw was city, but it was still nice to see more of Japan. It also helps me appreciate living near the mountains; the Kanto plain looks kinda of boring.
In Tokyo, I successfully transferred to the JR line and made it to Kamakura without any problems. And there I met up with Sarah and Daryn.
Kamakura actually reminds me a little bit of St. Augustine. Not so much in content but in atmosphere. It's got that same vibe: very historical (even for Japan - there's even a period of Japanese history named after Kamakura, when it was the center of government for a brief time), lots of sights to visit, plenty of tourists - Japanese and gaijin - wandering around, narrow streets, and a beach. I am definitely going to visit there again, and I would love to be able to live there for a little while. It's just beautiful.
Plus, there are over a dozen different shrines and temples, including the Kotokuin Temple, in which resides the second largest Buddha in Japan:
I still haven't found any shrines or temples around Isesaki, so this was my first chance to visit one, and it was truly impressive.
There was no way we were going to see everything in Kamakura in such a short time, so we decided to do what we could. This included hiking along a trail in the dark to se where it went. I admit, I wasn't overly thrilled with this, mainly because I don't have the best night vision because my depth perception goes a little wonky in the dark. Fortunately, Daryn and Sarah were patient with me, and Daryn was super-helpful in getting me down a particularly tricky set of stairs that I couldn't see anything of.
I am still a little sore from the vacation (hiking through the woods is pretty strenuous, especially when you can't see where you're going), but it was definitely worth the hike. The place we stumbled upon was a beautiful example of a Shinto shrine, complete with animal guardians, torii gates, and a purefication trough. It was a little creepy in the dark, but it was well-lit with flood lights, so it wasn't too bad.
We left the shrine and continued on to the Zeniarai Benten shrine, which is famous for its well. You can wash your money in the well, which encourages your money to double itself. However, nobody was there, so we didn't get the chance to do that. Still, it was interesting to walk around and look at it, especially a cave with a massive amount of paper cranes hanging from the ceiling.
Then, because we were tired and it was nearing our curfew time, we headed back to the hostel to get some rest.
But, wait! You'll notice there's no mention of food, and that's pretty strange, isn't it? Well, I wouldn't want to disappoint.
First, we ate lunch at a little restaurant (Chinese, I think - I had noodles in a sweet and sour soup). This also included my first experience with a Japanese-style toilet. It wasn't so bad, just kind of difficult at first to stay balanced while squatting. I expect it gets easier with practice, but I prefer to stick with Western-style toilets for the immediate future.
For dessert, we had purple sweet potato ice cream, which looks and sounds disgusting but is oh so good. Kamakura is famous for this treat, as well it should be. YUMMY.
For dinner, we ate at an Indian place, which also marks the first time I've had Indian food. It was pretty good. I especially liked the nan.
And that's about it for Day One. The best part was seeing Daryn and Sarah again. It's easy to say that I've missed hanging out with other Americans/native English speakers, but I also missed them because they're awesome ladies and fun to be around. The trip would definitely not have been as much fun without them.
Will be posting Day Two asap!
more pix from Day One: http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/album.php?aid=8565&id=1515469097
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