Day Three: Kamakura and Enoshima

 Hi, this is Nick and Lucas.

We started our day today visiting Engaku-ji after riding a couple trains to Kamakura. The large temple was complex. It contained many different pathways to various buildings. After walking for a bit, we hiked up the Daibutsu Hiking Trail. Despite the muddy path, we eventually visited a different shrine, where we waited for a bit until we started to walk again.


After the signing a document about saving the view of Mount Fuji, we then visited the Zeniarai Benten shrine, where a large Buddha statue was located. At 9.18 meters tall, the large figure was empty and could be viewed from the inside. We then took a quick photo and decided to have lunch.


After we finished lunch, we met at Hasadera. Here we all split up into groups of three or four and explored the area. The temple is known for its gardens, and we enjoyed looking at the flora and appreciating it. There was a temple at the top of the hill, and it offered welcome shade and a wonderful view of Kamakura and the ocean. Before we left we walked among the hydrangeas, which the area is especially known for.

Leaving the temple,  we made our way to Enoshima Island. A very crowded bus ride later and a long but enjoyable walk along the bridge left us at the island. We then hiked up all 260 stairs to the base of a lookout tower, where we took the elevator up and enjoyed the stunning view of the sun kissed town and ocean. The long walk and train ride back to our hotel was exhausting, and a late dinner was seasoned with tired small talk. Returning late to the hotel, at around 9 PM, we quickly went to our rooms and rested up for our big day tomorrow at Nirayama High School.












Comments

  1. RcaragherJune 4, 2025 at 7:10 AM

    Such beautiful views... and sounds like you are experiencing the cultural phenomenon of riding the on -time and pristine metro/trains... and also getting your steps:-) Very exciting to hear about your visit to Mishima tomorrow- 15 years in the making!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Day One: Arrival and Yokohama Port Festival

Image
We started our journey at LAX on Sunday June 1, 2025. We all met in front of Terminal B and walked over to check in our bags and get our boarding passes. We were all excited, but a bit nervous as this was many of our first times being away from home for so long. We ended up getting to our gate 30 minutes before boarding, so Mrs. Tomokiyo and Dr. Stogdill told us we were free to use the bathrooms and visit the stores and restaurants that were nearby. Most of us just ended up getting Starbucks and using the bathroom. At around 10am, we boarded our flight, American Airlines 27, and soon, we were off and away.  We were told that the flight to Japan was around 12 hours, while the flight back to LA was going to be only around 10. Because our PolyGlobal group only has 10 students, we all fit in 4 rows on the plane. Most of us napped, watched movies, and worked on our Japanese throughout the span of the flight. When we landed Tokyo, we quickly made our way out the plane, through customs, a...
Read more

Day 2: Kawagoe District

Image
      Most of us had a pretty early morning, waking up from around 5-6 am.  We all met up for breakfast at 8.  The breakfast was a mix of American food with a Japanese twist such as eggs with bacon. We group and departed for the Kawagoe District after we finished. After a long hour and a half of a chaotic and wet couple of train rides, we arrived at the Kawagoe district ready to explore. Harper and Miles gave us an incredibly detailed and beautiful breakdown of what our plans were for the day. Once we got out of the train station, we were met with pouring rain. Quickly, we walked to the Hachimangu Shrine where looked at the beautiful hydrangeas and broke clay peaches for good luck. After, we walked to the Kitain shrine and explored a beautiful garden and a collections of 500 Buddha statues. During our exploration, we visited the remaining portions of the Shogun’s residency. With the rain dumping even harder, we started our trek to find lunch in the center o...
Read more
Image
  Hiking the Nakasendo (coming soon) Countdown to departure: We will see you Poly Group: Meet at LAX on  SUNDAY JUNE 1 AT 7:30AM  outside Tom Bradley International Terminal (Terminal B)
Read more