I was debating between Nikko and Kamakura, but when I woke up for some reason I felt more like Kamakura [鎌倉]. The day was as awesome as the previous one had been miserable and I headed off to Shinjuku to get myself an Enoshima-Kamakura pass.

Just as I had not liked the sales lady from the museum, the Odakyu sales lady was adorable. She cheered me up （≧∇≦） with her “Woah, you speaking Japanese surprised me” for me, which was quite sincere, by her eyes. After getting the pass, I headed off to the train and got ready for the trip. I was lucky because I could do both parts sitting down in preparation of what was to come. I know Kamakura/Enoshima, you walk a lot.

My first stop was Hase-dera [長谷寺], a temple I had not seen the previous time I had been there. They had a very pretty garden, and I really enjoyed the view and the buildings. It holds a standing Buddha, and they make yummy dango, which I tried.

After that I headed off towards Kotoku-in [高徳院], which holds (or does not hold, as the building was long ago destroyed) the Kamakura Daibutsu [鎌倉大仏] (Great Buddha). As impressive as Nara is, I think I like this one more, as the serenity it transmits is quite amazing. Two university students came to ask me a few questions and they were horribly nice, they wanted to know how I knew Kamakura, and what was the best / worst about service in Japan. I think I broke their stats, but they treated me to a sweet.

I really wanted to go back to Tsurugaoka Hachimangu [鶴岡八幡宮], which is a Shinto Shrine in Kamakura, a bit away from the other two, so I used my unlimited-trips-in-the-area pass and went to the corresponding station. The shrine was just as I remembered. The fun part now is hunting down the Shrine and Temple seals. While I do love the omamori, the calligraphy is more affordable and keeps better.

Finally, I decided to head off to Enoshima over one of the temples I was considering, just because I wanted to go to Enoshima. And Enoshima [江の島] delivered with the best view of Mount Fuji, Fuji-san [富士山] I’ve ever had. Repeatedly. Changing with time as sun set. And it was amazing.

In Enoshima I climbed up to the Enoshima Jinja [江の島神社], I – you guessed it – got my calligraphy, and laundered money.

Then I walked around the whole rock until I reached Enoshima Iwaya [江の島岩屋], the Enoshima caves, to visit the dragon – an invoke him with a taiko drum, that you had to hit nikkai (twice) as the girls behind me informed me. They were also very impressed with my technique. If I got something from my taiko workshop, that was how to hold the baton and hit.

There is one thing I did not confess though, and that was that I miiiiight have skipped lunch that day (must see all the things? I ate dango and ice cream! And some yakitori!) so when I came back to Komagome [駒込] I stopped at CocoCurry and had a good dinner, because I was a bit on the ravenous side. Unfortunately, however, the ride back was standing, albeit it was good that I could leave the backpack on the floor.