Kamakura – ancient capital of Japan

Located about an hour away from Tokyo. It was the ancient capital of Japan during the Kamakura shogunate

Jane said loads of retirees choose Kamakura to spend their retirement there.

Our first destination was Daibutsu (Great Buddha). It’s a huge Buddle statue. It was housed in a temple but the temple was washed away by tsunami in 1498 leaving the Buddha statue intact. The Buddha is hollow, you can go inside the statue with a price of 20 yen. Nothing interesting though.

Jane & I @ Daibutsu

Daibutsu side view

We took some pictures, bought some souvenirs and left the place immediately.

We bought sweet potato and green tea sundae on our way to the station. Very unique but it didn’t taste very good though.

We took a detour after reaching the station. Since the beach is nearby, we went to check it out. But the beach wasn’t nice at all. The sand was all murky but yet it was filled with surfers. Jane wanted to test the water hence we took a step nearer to the water. Suddenly, the waves suddenly got stronger and we were caught in it.

I left the place with soggy feet.

Lousy Bitch

We then took a train back to Kamakura station.

While walking out from Kamakura station, we were approached by a young rickshaw puller. He offered to take us to our destination for the price of 1500 yen per person. Initially we hesitated but in the end, we decided to give it a try.

Jane: I was surprised that you wanted to take a rickshaw.

I was surprised too. Usually I’m quite stingy with these things but they seem like a pitiful bunch, waiting for customers.

Fortunately, our rickshaw ride was well worth it.

He was nice enough to pose in front of his rickshaw for a picture and even took a picture for us.

He was also well knowledgeable as he could answer any questions that were given to him regarding about the places we went.

Taking a rickshaw around Kamakura is a good way to see Kamakura as the rickshaw puller will bring you to loads of interesting places. Unfortunately, our rickshaw puller could only speak Japanese, Jane had to act as an interpreter.

We arrived at Tsurugaoka Hachiman Shrine 45 minutes later. According to the brochure, if we went on a 30 minutes ride, it will cost us 8000 yen. However, our rickshaw puller charged us 1500 per person 😀

We went for dinner at a Soba restaurant where our rickshaw driver has introduced to us. It was expensive though. Soba in Tokyo usually cost less than 1000 yen but ours cost about 1500 yen.

While having our food,

Jane: look at your back!

I turned and saw our rickshaw driver. We forgot our umbrella and he came back just to return it. Further, there seems to be an arrangement with the rickshaw company and the restaurant. We got free dessert for taking a rickshaw ride 😀

Unfortunately, due to Autumn, the sky was already dark. Tsurugaoka Hachiman Shrine was almost empty. But we managed to see some nice buildings and the ultimate fortune teller. The bloody fortune teller is a machine. WTF!!

Put in 100 yen to get your fortune told!

Since the sky was already dark and most shops were closed, we left Kamakura feeling disappointed.