Temples and giant Buddha, a mini Meet Up, and cool Shibuya

Late this morning I set off from my ryokan for a little place out of the way, recommended to me by Rob - fellow travel addict! Kamakura was about 30 minutes away from the area I was staying, and so after a few train changes, I was on my way to see the big buddha "you can walk into", as Rob had said. This little town out of the city was quite cute, and yet still bustling. After deciding to ditch the scary bus experience, given that I had no idea where I was going, and noone spoke English, I jumped into a taxi. Automatic doors on the taxi, if you don`t mind!! How funny!

I found the Great Buddha sitting with his legs crossed in the middle of nowhere, and yes, you can walk inside - although I really don`t know why!! There was nothing inside! 13.35 meters tall, he was once housed in a temple, but a tsunami had washed that away. He now sits out in the elements, surrounded by the mountains.

The town before Kamakura is Kita-Kamakura, and it is dotted with beautiful temples. Here I wondered around, and finally got a glimpes of the cherry blossoms I picture when I think of Japan (pic). Most of the temples have amazing gardens surrounding them, and these in the mountain are no exception. Tokei-ji also has a cemetary within the grounds, which was facinating. I managed to spot the burial site of Japan`s first gold medalist - in "hop step jump", would you believe!?

An hour back into Tokyo itself, I meet up with a couple of BookCrossers for coffee. It was great to meet some fellow addicts, and also to have a conversation!! I feel like I have been a mute for the last couple of days, merely pointing at things as my main form of communication! Lil and Deb live in Kyoto (from New Zealand and Canada originally), and we got chatting about BookCrossing and releasing, Japan, world travel, etc. They are both teaching English here...earning good money...hmmm...

Upon darkness, I headed for the funky Shibuya, where the fashionable woman come to assemble their outfits! Amazing! The neon and the busy fast-moving pace. And the girls look incredible!