And Kamakura Again

Because the time's never wrong for Kamakura. And this time around, with Alan, I feel like I was able to finish all the important things I haven't gotten a chance to do the first and second time (as well as redo the things I enjoyed previously). So here's a basic, yet somewhat complete route of all the important Kamakura must-do's.

 1: Walk up Komachidori
 The street is good mix of modern and oldish Japan, lined with a variety of shops featuring souvenirs, trinkets, food, snacks, and everything in between. It draws a lot of tourists, and one can easily catch sight of the rickshaw runners offering to take people around town.
 
Besides, it's a convenient route if you're making your way to...




 2: Hachiman-gu
 The Shinto shrine, located right smack in the middle of the town and at the top of a long flight of stairs, also comes with a good view of Kamakura as a whole, complete with the coast. I've never been to the Hachiman-gu (and this was my third time) without there being a traditional Japanese marriage taking place, and that's always nice to see.

 3: Sample some Shirasudon

The Enoshima speciality (recommended to us by Eri!) consists of a bunch of whitebait fish piled on rice. It's a mass grave you can eat! Just don't think of it like that. It's actually quite tasty and doesn't cost a whole lot! Our set included soba noodles and some pickles as well, and ran us for 980¥. You can pretty much find it everywhere up and down the main streets.




4: Hit the Beach!
 Venture down the main road long enough and you'll meet the Pacific. I wasn't expecting to be able to swim at this time of the year, but the water was actually warm (as far as the sea goes,) so we went along and jumped in too (in our underwear, shit.) But it was a good swim.
 There's actually a ridiculous amount of hawks flying around the beach, so I wouldn't advise having a picnic unless you want one of the flying bastards to swoop down and grab your shit. Which is actually interesting to watch, all things considered.

 
5: The Daibutsu
This is pretty self-explanatory, and there's nothing more I can say about the Daibutsu that I haven't already. It's really worth checking out.

6: Zeniarai Benzaiten Shrine
  Its entrance a cave, this shrine's actually one of Kamakura's best known ones and one I haven't gotten a chance to visit until my third trip. People here bring their coins and money to wash it in the waters of the caves in hopes of seeing it multiply. It's one of the few places where somewhat religious practices are undertaken by the people in a form other than that of simple of prayer.

The whole course took us a little over 6 hours or so, plus we had time for a little hiking and two meals. Kamakura, yay!