Enoshima 江ノ島

Cute play on words here...It reads...'Ga-Den', Den, meaning electric. Nice!

You have got to love the little electric train! It runs from Fujisawa through Enoshima and then along the coast to Kamakura.

the coastal journey is worth it, although it is a good few years since I have done that.

This time, we were beach bound with no distractions!!

These lanterns can be found all over the island of Enoshima around the temples and they light up at night.

East side beach...black sand and orderly sandals!!

The beaches of Kamakura and Enoshima are famed for being very busy. They are open through July and August and, along with some festivals, the crowds gather for lots of summer fun!

You will be pushed to find a spot of black sand to perch your sarong / towel / tent of shade, and even when you do, you will more than likely suddenly someone else will manage to squeeze into to the very same spot!!

We didn't think much of the east side beach - it was so busy that even in the water we we rammed in between rubber rings and girls (with full make up!) screaming away!

We quickly left the East side beach but not before seeing this awesome statue MADE OF SAND! Nice!

 You should expect to walk a little on this type of day trip. The main Enoshima station is 10-15 minutes from the beaches and then, in order to access the island itself, the bridge is another 15-20 minutes. Maybe, I would advise against doing it in 38 degrees heat like we did....

As we walked towards the island, we did our best to ignore the roar of all the jet skis! Clearly, a lot of them racing around..nice if you have one, not nice if you don't!!

You are greeted by many food stalls and small restaurants as you approach the island. And, if you follow the path through straight, it will lead you to the temple - (we were way too hot to bother...) - maybe great for an Autumnal day.

The quirky souvenir shops filled with all sorts of cute and colourful junk!

The temple..I promise to return on a cooler day and re blog with name and more info!!

 Some of the views were lovely! 

There are plenty of food places, be them restaurants, snack stops, beer stops....We enjoyed fresh wtermelon and ice cream...watch out for some of the flavours though...Corn soup flavoured ice cream???Wasabi???

 Hawks patrol the southern tip of the island...above the cave where these critters live....eeep. It's like your own starring part in a Ghibli movie, only the insects are RIGHT THERE!!!

Strolling around the island, there are a few treats for you...

Back down to sea level and still on the island, we had a job choosing what to eat - plenty of restaurants selling fresh fish, but we opted for something a little different - a taste of Hawaii...savoury pancakes! They were great!!

 

Heading over the bridge to the West beach. It's basically the same, though it felt less seedy and less busy. What I mean is that we weren't tripping over rubber rings or getting shouted at to go have a shower (showers and lockers are 1500yen, so expect to be harangued¬! Very unlike the Japanese, but it happens here.)

The layout is the same, with bars at the backside of the beach...with showers..! They re loud and nothing like your chilled European or beach resort vibe. Expect a wee headache! You can hear the crap music from tout in the water!

West Side

Diego stores and rents surfboards and offers lessons too.

YUM!

 Shirasu is popular here - it's whitebait and very yummy. At the end of our day (it had been quite the adventure!), we found a lovely riverside bar, Diego by  the river just on the inlet from the beach. ((http://www.bytheriver.jp/)) What a find; lovely food, reasonable prices and a satisfied tummy at the end. We even walked along the river a few stops to meet with the electric train.

And then, there was this dude...making his own way home the best way he knew how!!!! Love it!

Enoshima - a great day out from Tokyo whatever the season...just be very aware of just how hot it can be (38 degrees that day) and how busy (rubber ring bumper to rubber ring bumper!)

Hakone, 箱根

You think you know Japan, at least the basics of it and then it just surprises you yet again!

I think it's the concept of the LOCAL train that makes things easier to access, discover and learn.

Today, we made a random choice to head from our little beach resort, with NO idea of what we should do, but a simply lust after some greenery. Well, in Japan, make a wish and it might just come true.

We passed through Odawara on the Tokkaido line with a vague plan of going to Yokohama, although we didnt' really want to, nor did we want to stay in Atami, so where should we go! With NO INTERNET (shock, horror!) to access and guide us, we were left to the formerly popular methods of following our hearts!

Odawara is a transfer station to the Hakone express amongst others and we changed here to have a quick peek at what there was. Apparently there was a 'red train' and that kind of went up a mountain. One of the stops had the kanji for 'forest', so we decided it was a winner.

Aboard the 'red train', there was the nicest man, who made some conversation with us in PERFECT English and even gave us some pamphlets.

Basically, Hakone is NOT just hot springs (done), Mount Fuji (done) and rollercoasters (done and done again). There is more to the area than the lakes (done), and vague sightseeing (about to be done..). Hakone is a town in the Izu-Hakone-Fuji national park. 

We were about to see a whole lot more!

We took the red train from Odawara to Hakone - Yumoto and then took the Tozan railway. It's apparently the oldest mountain railway in Japan and is not short of a few train geeks (including me!) at some stations taking pictures!

We rode until the end station, Gora. 

From there, you can take a cable car across that will lead to the lake Ashi and some of the museums in the area.

  

rather funny - watch out for these creatures! boars, I think!

Something for the meat lovers too!!!

We walked uphill towards the park and craft house. It was too hot to think about wandering inside the park - all the flowers look the same with squinted eyes, I think!  

The magazine on the train back even had a review of the little French cafe!

Randomly, we found a beautiful looking French cafe, next to the photography museum (it's marked on the map, so if you find the museum, you know you can eat well! It's probably the cake menu for which they are most famous for, yet, we stuck to the savoury options, craving a quiche, a taste from almost-home! It was delightful and I cannot wait to return one day! The cafe is run by a couple - the husband is a well-known Hakone photographer and his work is on sale there too. He has had an exhibition in France for ten years now.

Gazpacho

Quiche craving - fully satisfied!

Back down the hill, we walked towards the next station down. This is in fact where the open air museum is. There is a lot of picasso's works here, but I cannot report on this as again, it was tooooo hot (blistering) by this point to wander about any more in the sun! Promising to return in the Autumn as there are many, many BEAUTIFUL onsen ryokans that we want to stay at!!

I realised today that I haven't even touched the sides when it comes to sightseeing in Hakone!! SOOOOooooo much to see and do there!! 

The romance car back! Faster and better than a local train!

Yums for the journey  Hakone Inari!