Geocaching and old Japanese men
This weekend while Krissy was off climbing Mt. Fuji, I headed back to Kamakura to try to find a few of the many geocaches in the area. I downloaded a bunch and then headed off in a direction. The first place I came to was Hongakuji Temple. It had a pretty big courtyard and had a large cemetery in the back so there wasn't much space for me to wander. After figuring out where the cache was, I sat around and waited until the man sitting next to me turned his head for a second and then grabbed the cache.
I then wandered off and found myself in Myohonji Temple. This place totally blew me away and it wasn't because I went deaf from the cicadas either. It was nestled into a wooded hillside so it was full of green trees and plants and flowers AND in the shade. As I was coming up a path, a random old-ish (60s maybe?) Japanese man saw my camera and started speaking to me in broken English. He asked about photography, where I was from, if I was married and if I had kids. Then he told me he was going to give me a tour.
"Lucky me," I thought. Here I am at a Japanese temple where everything is in Japanese and a Japanese man is willing to give me a tour! He then lead me up some stairs and over a bamboo pole placed in the path to keep visitors out. At the top of the secluded path, he suddenly grabbed one of my hands and looked at my palm.
"Very nice! Very nice," he kept saying. He took my other hand and said the same thing. So now I'm a little weirded out and start backing down the path. He then walked down the path behind me, bowed, said goodbye and walked away briskly. Ooookay.
Further up the path, there was a large group of older Japanese photographers wandering about on the grounds, all decked out with giant cameras and lenses, tripods, bucket hats, and vests filled with all kinds of gadgets. It was humorous to watch them clump together at one particular spot. I wandered around the gate they were looking at and snapped some photos of my own. The ornamentation of some of these things is just incredible! Obviously done with great skill and care.
After I wandered around the grounds, I got to looking for the geocache in the area. Well, usually there are clues associated with each cache that you can bring for help. Unfortunately I didn't bring any of these clues and so after looking around in the same spot for quite some time, I gave up. I'll come back and bring the clue next time.
As I sat down to drink some water, dry myself off with a handkerchief, and fan myself (it was HOT and HUMID!), one of the older photographers came over to me and asked if I had gotten nice pictures, if this was my first time in Kamakura, if I liked it here, etc. Then as he was leaving the temple, he kinda gave me a half handshake, half high-five and said goodbye. I said "sayonara" and bowed and then headed out myself.
The next place I came to was a small shrine called Yagumonjinja Shrine. As luck would have it, it was a shrine to Inari which meant foxes (aka kitsune)! At least this was my reward for putting up with the mosquitoes and no cache. I love little shrines like this. They may be small, but they're full of character and people visit them all the same.
Oh, you may have noticed that the images are bigger and clearer. This is because I finally broke down and got myself a Flickr account. I'm in the process of uploading a lot of my Japan photos so you can find the link to my albums here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kathryngoering.
I then wandered off and found myself in Myohonji Temple. This place totally blew me away and it wasn't because I went deaf from the cicadas either. It was nestled into a wooded hillside so it was full of green trees and plants and flowers AND in the shade. As I was coming up a path, a random old-ish (60s maybe?) Japanese man saw my camera and started speaking to me in broken English. He asked about photography, where I was from, if I was married and if I had kids. Then he told me he was going to give me a tour.
"Lucky me," I thought. Here I am at a Japanese temple where everything is in Japanese and a Japanese man is willing to give me a tour! He then lead me up some stairs and over a bamboo pole placed in the path to keep visitors out. At the top of the secluded path, he suddenly grabbed one of my hands and looked at my palm.
"Very nice! Very nice," he kept saying. He took my other hand and said the same thing. So now I'm a little weirded out and start backing down the path. He then walked down the path behind me, bowed, said goodbye and walked away briskly. Ooookay.
Further up the path, there was a large group of older Japanese photographers wandering about on the grounds, all decked out with giant cameras and lenses, tripods, bucket hats, and vests filled with all kinds of gadgets. It was humorous to watch them clump together at one particular spot. I wandered around the gate they were looking at and snapped some photos of my own. The ornamentation of some of these things is just incredible! Obviously done with great skill and care.
After I wandered around the grounds, I got to looking for the geocache in the area. Well, usually there are clues associated with each cache that you can bring for help. Unfortunately I didn't bring any of these clues and so after looking around in the same spot for quite some time, I gave up. I'll come back and bring the clue next time.
As I sat down to drink some water, dry myself off with a handkerchief, and fan myself (it was HOT and HUMID!), one of the older photographers came over to me and asked if I had gotten nice pictures, if this was my first time in Kamakura, if I liked it here, etc. Then as he was leaving the temple, he kinda gave me a half handshake, half high-five and said goodbye. I said "sayonara" and bowed and then headed out myself.
The next place I came to was a small shrine called Yagumonjinja Shrine. As luck would have it, it was a shrine to Inari which meant foxes (aka kitsune)! At least this was my reward for putting up with the mosquitoes and no cache. I love little shrines like this. They may be small, but they're full of character and people visit them all the same.
Oh, you may have noticed that the images are bigger and clearer. This is because I finally broke down and got myself a Flickr account. I'm in the process of uploading a lot of my Japan photos so you can find the link to my albums here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kathryngoering.