Kamakura in our cranky pants

Kamakura for me was a bit underwhelming. I was feeling pretty grumpy as I had found out I had to head back to Australia sooner than I expected. Apparently there is a limit to how many tourist visas you can use in a row. D'oh! (180 days max in a 12 month period, in case you were wondering.) It was a public holiday too, so the crowds were a bit mental which may have added to our meh feeling about the place.

It is an easy day trip from Tokyo though, We went via Shinagawa, on the JR Yokosuka line, 690 yen, 46 minutes. There are a few different train and ticket options depending which part of Tokyo you are travelling from. 

We started by getting off the train at Kita-Kamakura and picking up the Daibatsu Hiking course from next to Jochi-ji .

The trail is 3km long and winds past a few shrines in the hills before finishing up at Daibatsu (Great Buddha).

A few young guys were enjoying smashing tiny plates at this shrine.

We also stopped at Zeniarai benten, the entrance to the shrine is through a short tunnel.

We skipped the queue to wash our money in the natural springs, supposed to bring financial success but seeing as they use paper money here, it seemed kinda silly.

After stopping at a few other small shrines we made it to the bottom of the hill, paid our 200 yen each and got to stare at the giant Buddha.At 850 tonnes, it is a big Buddha indeed.

There is literally nothing else to do in this area except take photos of the Buddha from different angles. So I did. Oh and you can line up to see inside the Buddha statue but the line was about an hour long so adios to that idea.

Next we walked down a bit further to the beach. It was pretty lame and there were girls wearing high heels on the sand.  Double lame.

We got some ice cream and decided to call it a day. So long Kamakura. Maybe we will come back one day in a better frame of mind.

Mt Takao, a nice way to escape the city for a day

So what do you do when your plans to go to Fuji Q theme park are thrown off course? Look up suggestions for day trips from Tokyo online, discuss with your friend which places she has already visited and see what you are left with. That was how we wound up on train to Mt Takao, a 50 minute trip from Shinjuku on the Keio line. Takaosanguchi station is at the base of the mountain.

You can get a 20% discount if you buy your cable car ticket for the mountain at the same time you purchase your round trip train ticket from Shinjuku or Shibuya train station.  You can choose if you want to get the cable car one way or return. It is 480 yen one way or 930 yen return for cable car. 390 yen each way for the train trip.

Using Trail 1, walking from the bottom to the summit takes 90 minutes or you take the cable car which drops you halfway up. We chose to get the cable car up and walk back down. Trail 1 is an easy paved path, there are other more advanced trails that take you past other features such as suspension bridges and waterfalls. You can see views of Tokyo from the observation area near the cable car station.

Along Trail 1 we stopped at the Yakuoin temple and checked out the statues of the long nosed mountain gods. The temple was a bit unusual with a different style of statues and fountains then I  had seen at other places. You can spot the long nosed goblin statues along the hiking trails as well.

The view from the summit was pretty clouded over but we could see glimpses of some of the mountain ranges, apparently you can see Mt Fuji on clear days.  It is also supposed to be a good place to see cherry blossoms a couple of weeks after they have disappeared around Tokyo.

I wouldn't bother with the monkey park, it was pretty sad really. The guide was super friendly and enthusiastic but it was really just a bunch of cranky monkeys fighting over a spot on their dusty hill. You do get entry to a flower garden with the same ticket to the monkey park but nothing was in bloom when we went through. Entry ticket is 480 yen.

All in all it was a nice day trip adventure and I wouldn't mind heading back to check out the beer garden with the all you can eat buffet that runs from late June to early October.

Day tripping to Nikko

Had some friends visiting from Melbourne this week so I had people to talk to and hang out with for a couple of days, whoo hoo! It was a bit of a family reunion for my friend's partner, he lives in Melbourne now but is originally from Spain. His brother and wife had come across from Zaragoza and were super organised with their itinerary, so I tagged along on the family day trip to Nikko, 120km north of Tokyo.

Depending which train option you go for, (the faster the train, the more expensive your ticket), it takes between an hour and a half to two and a half hours to reach Nikko train station. We caught the shinkansen (bullet train) from Ueno to Utsonomiya and then onto the local train the rest of the way to Nikko. From the train station you can walk 20 mins up to the shrine area or catch the bus up and save your legs.

The Nikko national park area is extensive, 1,400 sq km. The main attractions within this area are the many Shinto and Buddhist shrines from the Edo period, scattered between the giant cedar trees. We spent most of our time wandering around the biggest shrine complex, Toshu-Gu shrine, a memorial to the first Tokugawa shogun, Tokugawa Ieyasu. It supposedly took 15,000 artists two years to complete the shrine. You can see why!

There are several building to explore just within this one shrine area, the photo below is of the steps leading up to the shogun's mausoleum area at the top of the hill behind the main bling bling area.

Getting a bit tired after taking our shoes on and off  a gazillion times and trying to stay one step ahead of the large Mexican tour group behind us, we decided to check out one more area before lunch. At this point I had lost track of where we were but it was another stunning shrine area. I particularly liked the miniature replica of the portable shrines that get toured around the town during cherry blossom festivals.

On our way to lunch we passed the Shin-kyo Bridge. Pretty ugly huh? No idea why anyone would want to check out this area at all.

And thanks to Lonely Planet for directing us towards this beauty - 900 yen ($9) for this plate of awesomeness.

Yes, I ate that all myself. Yes it was as tasty as it looks. Photo below if you want to find it for yourself one day. Place is called Hippari Dako. People like to leave notes of thanks all over the walls.