Kamakura

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I want to add a bit more about our visit to Kamakura.  We first stopped at a working Buddhist monastary that was open to the public during the day.

For the first temple we savored every building and every lane.  As the first one visited, we didn't yet know which aspects were prevalent in every temple yet.  Needless to say, we took a bit of time there. I suppose we wouldn't have see that squirel, which was a riot to the Japanese because they aren't native there, helping himself to an offering to Buddha.

The country is vending machine crazy.

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On our way out and towards the village to Kamakura, which is really more of a beach town, we stopped for some water, which we of course bought from a vending machine. The country is vending machine crazy.  Cigarettes (which scans your face to make sure you are of age), videos, drinks hot and cold, ice cream, etc.  And they're everywhere!  I could easilly see myself walking next to a rice patty, desiring a rice dream shake and poof!!  There would be two machines sitting right there!

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What we didn't get from a vending machine, however, was the purple potato ice cream!  The bright purple hue may turn off some people, but it was actually really good!

Before decending into the town, we stopped at the Shinto shrine, Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gū.  This was definitely more crowded, which makes sense as Shintoism is the religion of Japan.  Lynn informed us that this one was unique in that it was heavily influenced by India.  Cliff and I filled out a wooden prayer plate, wishing for safe travels.

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We worked our way through the grounds, stopping at a lotus flower pond.  For some reason, I thought the Lotus flower grew in soil, but it actually is a water plant.  They were just beginning to bloom, so in a couple weeks, the pond will be covered in them!

After a lunch of pasta and pizza, Japan style (let your imagination run wild), we headed to the last shrine for the day, Kenchō-ji.  This had a great view of the water as well as some interesting shrines inside a cave. Inside were carvings of a variety of Japanese in their everyday lives.  Farmers, children, gardners, investment bankers etc.

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We headed back to Ikebukuro, which is inside Tokyo, to get some famous Curry and Rice, "comfort food" for Japanese.  To get there, we happened to be in a train during rush hour.  I would say that the women there might be worried about being groped, except the people are squeezed so tightly that I don't think a guy could even move his hand to do it!  Lynn told us that it was once so packed that she was litterally lifted off the ground!

Notes:

1. Patagonia is expensive regardless of country.
2. There are no-cell phone seats on the trains.
3. There are painted lines on the platforms for people to start a queue to board trains.