So Away from the City...

Its been a few days since i've updated this but...since i skipped a day yesterday due to tiredness (i feel behind on my travels again) i better do the last few days quickly aha.

Anyway as the title suggests, today we took a break from the crazy hustle and bustle of city life and travelled a bit farther to see the older part of Japan. So the planned itinerary today is to head to Kamakura, a small coastal city about an hour or so away from Tokyo. but i was so tired today that i pretty much slept through most of the ride - i find that sitting on pub transport does that to me now ._. Anyway it was a pretty hot day and there was gonna be alot of walking so i stocked up on water and wore my hair up =)


The first thing we did upon reaching Kamakura was find a place to eat. There was a Macdonalds surprisingly but we found a pretty good small place which offered delicious sashimi and other dishes at reasonable prices. We've been eating pretty expensive food lately so it was good to have some cheaper food!!



Anyway so after lunch we decided to wake down the old cobbled streets - inevitably to explore and do more shopping, but these streets were very different and the shops sold more souvenir type stuff as well as local food and drinks. It had a very lively village feel to it and was a nice break from all the excessiveness of the city. It was pretty crowded as well - i didnt expect it to be such a popular place since we were so far away.



yeh these streets really made me feel like putting on a ninja/samurai costume and run around slashing people aha. Some of the houses and buildings were old and built in the traditional Japanese way - and personally i find them fascinating and interesting and i'd love to stay in a Ryokan one day (*sniff why aren't i going to Kyoto?) Well anyway here are some of the buildings i took snaps of:


Love love love! Okay so i know you see these everywhere in Tokyo but i really do love them and wish i could do cosplays here - in Australia we just don't have some of the same beautiful scenery.

Anyway so when we explored to our hearts on content we quickly hopped on the bus to see some Shrines and the Giant Buddha. We stopped at the Tsurugaoka Hachimangu Shrine which is Kamakura's most important shrine. In front was a 'Torii' a kind of gateway that is commonly found in front of Shinto Shrines.
There were also little vendors which sold sweet and fruits. There was this AWESOME lady who sold sliced pineapple, and every time u bought one u play 'Janken' (rock,scissors paper) with her and if u won, u get a free slice =)! I won twice ^^

AND other stuff they sold were toffee apple and toffee grape. GOSH the toffee grape is a MUST try! they are really like little grape lollipops and are so nice. Unfortunately i haven't seen it anywhere else!



Anyway in the right picture u can see the shrine at the top. Luckily as we climbed up there i we were able to witness a traditional wedding taking place there! It was very very formal, with only a handful of guests and no speaking (well i didn't hear any) only the sound of the band playing some high pitched instrument. For me it seemed very graceful and meaningful - but as a foreigner it also seemed very exotic and strange.



At the top of the Shrine there were Miko selling lucky charms and fortunes for ¥100. I did my fortune and got 'Sue-kichi', which apparently means good luck but on the lower end of the scale! So to counteract that i tied it the the tree and hoped it wouldn't come true...>< There was also a museum and other parts to this temple but we did not have time to explore it all so we turned back after getting our fortunes.

Next was the bus ride to the giant Buddha!
Not much to say about it really.. but the interesting thing about these shrines was that we had to wash our hands before entering. It was kind of a ritual where you scoop up some spring water and run your hands under them. I suppose it was something to wash bad spirits or luck away and to purify the soul =)



And the giant Buddha was pretty giant =) But mostly me and sisters forgot the sightseeing and decided to photowhore at the temple instead! (is that like sacrilegious??) hope not =='



yup so there he is.
IF you come here there are very beautiful gardens and shrines but that's about it. Anyway so we headed back to rest up for the day, because next up is: TOKYO DISNEYLAND!

til next time~