Tough Temple Tour Tops End of Term Torpor (image intensive)

On a whim, and inspired by one of my student's speeches, I decided to go to Kamakura to have a look around. The place is just an hour or so out of Tokyo by train, so it was perfect for a day trip. The Lonely Planet guide suggested that I stop a little north of Kamakura station and work my way south so I could cover a lot of temples, and it seemed like a good idea. Unfortunately the day I chose turned out to be one of the hotter days of the season, so it wasn't as comfortable as I would have liked. But if there's anything I've learned from being here, it's that you roll with the punches.

The Kamakura area is populated mostly by Zen temples, which means most places you come across are likely to be quiet and tranquil. After a while, all the temples start to look really similar, which is my excuse for not being able to remember where I saw what, but there were a few sights worth making a note of.



I found a statue in the one of temple grounds that was supposed to be a god of happiness, and a random visitor there told me that you rub his belly for good luck. I include a pic of the statue here because I thought he looked like he was pulling a one handed Fonzie ^^

Along the long trek to Kamakura station, I came across a stall by the road selling a local specialty, sweet potato flavoured ice cream. I'm not one to pass up a cold soft serve, especially on an extremely hot and humid day, so I stuck around the stall and ate the thing with a goofy look on my face.

I probably spent the most time at Kenchouji, which had a small lotus garden in bloom and some nice architecture.


That was by no means the reason why I stayed so long. I was about to walk out of the place when a saw a sign at the entrance about the area to the rear of the temple where you could see Mt Fuji. Lured by the promise of seeing the great volcano, I decided to give it a go. After all, it looked like a short walk on the map. Half an hour later, I was still climbing up the side of a frigging mountain and wondering what possessed me to attempt the hike in 36 degree heat. I didn't get to see Mt Fuji once I got to the top since it would involve walking a hiking trail without a guide, but I did get a cool mountaintop view of Kamakura and a flock of stone tengu for my efforts.



What's the collective noun for a group of tengu anyway? A patrol, maybe?

To be continued!