Ewens-Downing Adventures in Asia

Just south-west of Yokohama (which is south-west of Tokyo) is the area known as Kamakura. This is a well-known tourist destination for historic temples and shrines set in the lush mountain forests. Our friend Kenji had volunteered to take us on a day trip there. In Japan most people don’t drive. They take the outstanding public transportation system in their country. So we set off from Yokohama station by train to Kamakura.

Kenji showed Ron how to use the ticket machines. We discovered that almost all of the ticket machines we used had an English button, making purchasing train tickets very simple and straight forward. We got on the train and quickly maneuvered into seats for the ride.

Once we got to the station near the temples and shrines we got off. Even though it was out in the countryside it was still a nice station. It always amazed me to see bicycles just parked near a station with no locks or security. It’s just like that in Japan. Looking down the tracks it looked like a long way back to Yokohama. We began our walk.

We were thinking of taking a trail up through the forest to get to the main part of town. But it was just so stiflingly humid and hot that day, we decided not too. That was a good call. We would have been exhausted if we tried that route in such weather. “Hatsui desu!” (It’s hot!) Instead we went back across the rail tracks to our first sight.

After crossing the railroad tracks again we came upon stairs to a small valley set into the side of the mountain. The forest foliage was lush, green and very beautiful. And with the humidity and heat, all the cicada and crickets were chirping loudly. It reminded me of scenes I had watched in Japanese movies. The sounds of the forest insects were exactly the same. We continued exploring the area. There was so much to see and take in. And with the heat we had to walk at reduced speed.

Once we saw everything to see, we returned to the station and took the train to the town of Kamakura. There we would visit the Big Buddha.