For my Japanese Birthday we took a day trip to Kamakura to see the Daibutsu (In english: Giant Buddha). It is the oldest giant Buddha still in original form in Japan. The train ride there was great. We took the Enoshima Railroad which is a smaller line and travels through some beautiful historic neighborhoods and then hits the shore. There were 6 ladies who sat with us all dressed from head to toe in authentic kimonos with the shoes and the hair. It was so neat. The oldest lady spend most of 45 min train ride chatting with Natalie and hugging on her and rubbing her hair. Even though Natalie had no idea what the lady was saying she loved it. Once we got to Hase there was about a 10 minute walk to the Buddha. It was 200 yen person to enter. (With the exchange rate that is about $2.25) The first thing we did was wash our hands in a well and take a sip of the water. Let me just tell you that the water was freezing! Then we headed to check out the Buddha. The statue was huge! Roughly 15 meters in height (the face itself nearly 2.5 meters long), and it weighs 93 tons. GiGi even took a trip inside the Giant Buddha. I can't give any details because I promised to save that for when Nannie and I take Josh back. While GiGi was inside, Nannie and I stayed outside and she played with a new friend. They had the best time jumping off the slate rocks. And yes we did get to see Buddha's flip flops. We learned in our ICR class when we first got here that the flip flops were made for the Daibutsu by a group of elementary age local children several years back. I am sure there was a sign that told the story but I couldn't read it. The grounds were very ornate and covered with monuments, fountains, and other statues. It was a great trip to experience the culture of Japan.
