Old Tokyo continued...

Our tour of "Old Tokyo" continued on to Kamakura. The town we were in, again, was not like the Tokyo we've been enjoying for the past week. It was quiet, tranquil, and peaceful. There was no hustle and bustle that we saw in central Tokyo. Actually, to me, it seemed like the people here were kind of moving in slow motion. I guess you could say I got used to moving around in the big city.
We came here for the temples to study the history of Japan. Our first stop was the statue of the Great Buddha. After "rinsing off," I got to see the largest statue of Buddha I have ever seen. I have never heard so many ooh's and aah's in my life. It surprised me to see the Japanese residents get so excited about the Buddha. This is part of where they live and some of them are seeing this great statue for the first time.

People from all over Japan go to Tokyo to visit. One thing I found very interesting was that people from all over Tokyo come to Kamakura for vacation. Tokyo has everything someone could ask for, and yet, people come here to escape. It got me thinking about the last time I just hopped in my car to take a scenic ride through the North Shore. I remember stopping at Matsumoto's for shave ice and enjoying the life in the country for a day. I guess this experience is similar to what these Japanese people are having.

Throughout our whole day in Kamakura, I kept seeing people's faces light up as soon as they saw the temple or the barrels of sake. And even though the typhoon was on its way, it did not take away the spirits of the people. I think the only thing taken away was the energy of our group. By the end of the day, we took a vote and decided to head back home instead of going to Shinjuku. I was utterly disappointed that our group did not want to see the business center of Tokyo. They say its the Times Square of Tokyo, and I thought I would never find out why. When we got back to the hotel, Jayson got a change of heart and decided to take us to Shinjuku on our last day. I was very relieved to find out we were not going to miss Shinjuku.