Kamakura

Well we had a fantastic trip to Kyoto. We visited the old imperial
palace there, an ancient castle, and several temples. We happened
upon a Japanese Cemetery which is haunted by monkeys, but sadly there
were none at the time. We got to ride the Shinkansen, or bullet
train, there and back and man was it fast. There were some plum
blossoms and one or two cherry blossoms, but not many yet. We got
back yesterday.

Today Christie and I left the group behind and headed to the funky
beach town of Kamakura. It was a cool place with great ocean views.
The weather was not fit for beach combing, sadly. We went to the 12th
century Hase temple on a huge cliff and left a message of peace for
all of you in a cave inside the temple. Also, we saw a gigantic
bronze Buddah cast in 1252. We could even go inside of it. Somehow
it survived tsunamis, earthquakes, and fires and is still standing and
is in pretty good shape ... I was able to get my fill of sashimi, and
it was raining when we got back to Tokyo. Luckily, there was an
umbrella vending machine in the train station so we stayed dry.

Tomorrow we will hit the fish market which got delayed. For dinner we
are hoping to make it to Japans largest Chinatown in Yokohama, which
should be a memorable experience.

We miss you all and hope you are doing well.

Cheers,
Scott and Christie