Japan

A day exploring the shrines, temples, and gardens of Kamakura, followed by a quick stop in the Ramen Museum was absolutely lovely.

We managed to miss the rain for our morning trips around Kamakura, beginning with the Big Buddha statue. There were a shocking amount of young students, but our guide, Kumiko, told us it was likely their end of semester work. Still, it was a bit strange for us to see so many pre-teens out and about without a teacher!

We then made our way to another temple, surrounded by gardens, and got our first glimpse of cherry blossoms! After climbing the stairs we got a good view of the bay, and then took a quick snack break before moving on to another shrine, atop a huge flight of 75 stairs. We all climbed them, and took a few photos at the top before heading back down and stumbling across a rehearsal for the March 11 memorial for the 2011 tsunami victims.

Finally, we headed back toward the city for our last stop at the Ramen Museum! It’s such a cool little museum that is designed to look like a courtyard in 1950s Tokyo. We temporarily split up and got some delicious ramen, before meeting again to play some classic Japanese games in the courtyard. Kumiko and our driver, Taxa, had a great time telling us about their childhoods and the things they remembered that were in the museum, and it was so much fun to try them out!

Overall, a fantastic day with the best tour guides we have had so far!Read more