| July 21, 2005 |
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| Written by Administrator | |||
| Thursday, 21 July 2005 06:05 | |||
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I took a day trip to Tokyo to meet up with Mai and Hiro. Went went to Kamakura to see the Daibutsu, Big Buddha. The train from Tokyo to Kamakura was about an hour. We started out hiking along a trail to make our way to the Daibutsu. At one point of our journey, we took a side turn in what appeared to be a shortcut down the mountain. This was no shortcut. The further we declined from the mountain, the path got narrower and was covered with plants and spiderwebs. It felt like we were in an Indiana Jones movie. After about 10 minutes along the path, we turned around and headed back. Eventually, the main path did take us along the rear side of the Daibutsu.
The Daibutsu is an impressive statue. According to the history, it was once housed in a building, but due to a powerful storm, the building collapsed, but the statue remained unharmed. For 10 yen you can walk inside the giant statue. There wasn't much to see inside, but it was impressive. After about 30 minutes, we headed down to a dessert shop and had some ice cream. Then we made our way to Enoshima. Enoshima is a bueatiful island that is connected but a long bridge. There were many shops as was as several temples and shrines. The summit offered views of Japan and markers listed which direction Miami and China were in. There was also a large tower that you can enter to get en even higher view. On a clear, sunny day you can see Mt. Fuji, but it was cloudy. By 6:30 we headed back to Tokyo and went to an izikaya to eat. An izikaya is a barlike restuarant where you can get small portions of food and any kind of drink you want. By the night's end, I took the last shinkansen back home.
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