Japan: Day 3 — Tokyo ...

I was up early and enjoyed breakfast at the hostel. My plan was to visit the coastal town, Kamakura. It was fairly easy to navigate my way there on the train. I had been warned that I would have trouble with the trains but actually they have been easy. Taiwan has a similar system so everything is oddly familiar.

Jōchi-ji Temple

I got off the train at Kita-Kamakura station and was planning to hike to Kamakura station. My first stop was Jōchi-ji temple. It has wonderful green bamboo, some caves and you can walk through a crevice in the rock. This is also the starting point for the 3KM hiking trail called Daibutsu which takes you to Kamakura station.

It was nice to be in a Japanese forest and I was surprised how quiet it was. I had the trails all to myself! The paths weren't challenging but they were muddy and slippery in parts from overnight showers. The trail popped me out near the Great Buddha of Kamakura. It was here that I found all the people! The area was packed with tourists!

The Great Buddha of Kamakura

After a visit and a rest, I wandered down the street in search of Kebab Kamakura. I had read about this place online and it had excellent reviews. The place lived up to those reviews. Lunch was cheap and delicious! The couple that work there are extremely friendly as well!

After lunch, I went to the beach for a quick cool off. I had a few things I wanted to do in the afternoon and I was 1.5 hours away from Tokyo.

The elevators to the observatory

I made a quick stop at the guesthouse to shower, change and charge my devices before heading out to the Tokyo Tower. It was raining slightly but I went anyway, hoping it would stop by the time I got there.

It cost ¥900 to go to the top of the tower. (150m) The highest viewing point (250m) was closed for renovations. The first observatory offered some nice views overlooking Tokyo.

I was exhausted after a long day and hungry. I ended up at an Italian place around the corner from the guesthouse called Miami Garden. I had a pizza for ¥1,200 (it was only OK) and two glasses of wine. I sat in the restaurant and did some people watching while taking a much needed rest and thinking about plans for the following day.