Our plan initially after Kyoto had been to head back to Tokoyo for a few days before our flight to Hong Kong. However we had heard a lot about Yokohama and it also worked out as a good base to explore a day trip to Kamakura rather than trying to do this from Tokoyo. We cancelled some of our hostel bookings in Tokyo and instead found a reasonably priced hostel in Yokohama for a couple of nights. Our JR pass was actually due to be up in the next day or so but we thought we would try to stretch this as far as possible to get a few more days from it. So from Kyoto we took the Hikari bullet train to Shinagawa, where we got great views of Mount Fuji, which was very special. From Shinagawa we took the JR line to Ishichawacho as this was the closest stop to our hostel. After a five-minute walk we arrived at Yokohama Village Hostel where we had our own small tatami mat room. The hostel was more just a series of rooms but did have a cute terrace up on its room and suited us as a place to crash for a couple of nights.
Wanting to take in as much of the city as we could we headed straight out to Yokohama Bay area walking past their baseball stadium and China town. The pier itself had great views of the bay as the sunset. We were also incredibly lucky to be able to see Mount Fuji just popping its head above the city’s skyline, so we stood with all the photographs trying to do it justice. When it was getting darker we headed around the bay to the old red brick warehouses that have been converted into a number of boutique shops and restaurants. From here we headed to Bashimachi brewery, known as one of the craft beer places in Yokohama. Dave tried a taster flight 3 for 1000 and I had half a pint of something I thought I would actually drink (600). Having blown our food budget on drinks we grabbed cheaper dinner from 7/11 before heading back to our room.
Our destination the next day was to day trip to Kamakura, just one of the day trips we originally intended to do from Tokyo. After a quick breakfast croissant and coffee from family mart we jumped on the negushi line to Ofuna. From there we purchased a JR Kamakura- Enoshi day pass (700y) so we could explore freely on different modes of transport there. Kamakura is a small town by the see very popular for Japanese people as a day trip. It is full of different beautiful temples and shrines as well as restaurants and is popular with surfers too. We got off the train at Kita kamakura which was a peaceful residential area in order to go into Engaku-ji temple (300y). It was a surprisingly large complex and despite there being a lot of people it was incredibly peaceful and quiet. We explored the different shrines, statues and zen gardens, stopping to watch the garden being tended to for a while which was very meditative. From here we walked to zencho-ji, we did not go into this complex as we had had such a nice experience at the other temple and this was a lot busy as well as being 500 (which would have been a meal!), instead we carried on to Tsurugaoka Hachimangu temple. With its stunning red decoration and orange tori gates. We watched a lot of Thai monks exploring the temples and lots of children around in traditional clothes ready for a ceremony to take place. After this we found ourselves in the main town walking down the pedestrian street with restaurants and shops selling local snacks and souvenirs and after heading down komachi-dori we grabbed some sushi to refuel at Kaiten sushi.
We then boarded the train on the Enoden enoshima line. This is a traditional old small train that runs all along the coast. We took got on and rode it all the way to the end of the line to fujisawa, just watching the scenary change from beaches and through more residential areas, before riding it back to Enoshima. We walked out to the shrine on the little island in the sea, watching all the kites and falcons circling for food. Unfortunately there was lots of litter and debris on the surrounding beaches that they were in the process of clearing due to the typhoon a couple of days before. We meandered from the island to shirigawa watching all the surfers in the sea and looking at the surf shops. Unfortunatley we were going to head to hase-dera but due to the time it had already closed. We did just make it in time to see the daibatsu Buddha (200y) which was impressive, with a nice background of trees behind it. From here we boarded the train back to main kamakura station, treating ourselves to some chocolate fondant tarts (300y) just before the shop shut. We then made a final stop at a starbucks for a coffee, in an old mansion previously owned by a manga artist, so the walls were adorned with various art-work. Then we got the train back to Yokohama after a lovely day out. That evening in Yokohama we wandered around their Chinatown, played some basketball in an arcade and had a delicious flamed beef bowl from Yoshinoya (600y).
In the very rainy morning we found baguettes and coffee for breakfast whilst waiting for the cup noodle factory to open. This was one of the main things we wanted to do in Yokohama as it had looked interesting and interactive. The idea of cup noodles originates in Japan and we had lived on our fair few of them whilst we were away. It cost 500y to enter the museum and a further 300 if you wanted to design and make your own cup noodle pot- which is really why anyone goes! The museum itself was like modern art gallery display abstract sculptures and pictures of cup noodles, going through the history of cup noodles and a room with all sorts of varieties of different noodles by date. There was a 20 minute video about Momofuku who invented them which was surprisingly interesting and well animated. Then for the fun bit. We were given a white cup and headed to the design station to draw our designs on the pot. Next we choose different fillings we wanted it them and then they were sealed. They were presented in an air filled protective cushion to take home for later consumption. Very fun and different morning! From here we grabbed lunch from family mart before boarding the train (JR negishi line to Ueno) back to Tokoyo.
Alex
Comments