Cooking Across 4 Generations

After breakfast I walked over to Shimbashi Station and caught the train out to Kamakura. Two reasons for going to Kamakura – hiking and Ajisai season. The temple at Hase-dera is well known for it’s Ajisai display so that was my destination after my hike.

The hike wasn’t a huge one about 3km but there was a small mountain involved.

After checking with the tourist office for the hiking routes, I really needed some caffeine as I didn’t have any at breakfast. The Delifrance at the station sorted that issue out fast.

I just missed one bus and the next one was a 20 minute wait. Naturally the clouds gave way to a perfect blue sky and I was standing in the sun for that time. My hiking gear for the day was a little on the unprepared side. Clear plastic umbrella, well there was a 50% chance of storms, no sunglasses and no hat. I did however have 2 cameras and 2 extra lenses. A Tory Burch handbag is not really appropriate for hiking either.

The route starts near Meigetsu-in bus stop on the north side of Kamakura not far from Lita-Kamakura station. Quite a pretty area. The path starts right next to the bus stop so access is super easy. There is a pretty little pond on the right and some Torii gates lead to Jochi-ji Temple.

There was also a small potter’s studio opposite the pond with some lovely wares.

The first kilometre is paved as it is also a road for local residents. The incline is fairly gentle at the start but later on gets a little steeper, but not too much. At about the half way point there is Kuzuharaoka Jinja,  with a pond to sit by, a shrine to pray for love, vending machines for a cold drink or snack and a picnic area. A nice spot for a little rest, get an oracle(in English) and break a small ceramic dish on a rock to cast away bad luck. Near by are some the graves of some important locals. Did I mention spectacular views??

Back on the trail there were some easy bits and some hard bits. I HATE wet clay, so slippery underfoot, but I stayed upright. One scary bit towards the end where you have a short, narrow, steep descent requiring you to hold on to a rope.

Then you hit the residential area in the hills with spectacular views across the town to the ocean, you can hear the waves breaking as you trek along. A stand of luscious bamboo with a sign “Caution Vipers” made me a little more wary. No way I was crossing to get closer to the bamboo. Kites were also flying above the tree line, hopefully on the hunt for vipers.

And then a steep descent down stairs bought me to within 300m of Kotoku-in, home of the Daibutsu. I went in quickly as there were so many tourists and I had visited with Mum 2 years ago.

Across the road from Kotoku-in I spied purple sweet potato ice cream. I missed out last year at Kawagoe so I was not going to miss out this time. Not as much sweet potato flavour as I was expecting, it was nice and refreshing after the hike.

I then made my way to Hase Dera bought my ticket and then was given a ticket for the Hydrangea Walk. Little did I know I would have a 30 minute wait to walk the path.  A numbered ticket system is used to put groups through, so there might be 100 people in the group. They also only allow so many per day to go through, as I found out as I was leaving when they announced the days allocation of Hydrangea Walk tickets had finished.

Now I do like Hydrangeas but what was here was different to what we have in Australia. Different colours and shades, different petal sizes, different shapes to the flower heads and even one that hangs its flower head upside down! My favourites were the ones lace caps, like a little fairy landing circle. I also like the ones that have the longer “pine cone” shape flower head. So beautiful to see a whole hillside covered in the bushes.

After a stroll through the rest of Hase Dera including the cave temple area, I returned to the station taking some local shopping streets for a bit of variety.

Back in Tokyo I had a late dinner at a local joint under the railway tracks between Yurakucho and Shimbashi. Renkon stuffed with mustard (hot English from the nasal burning), pork katsu and salad and two cups of refreshing umeshu on the rocks.

A tiring but fabulous day, especially as it turned out to be the sunniest day of the trip. It was also exciting to do another hike even if it was a short one.

Keep an eye out for the next post where I hike again.

Thanks for dropping by!!