Yesterday we accompanied some of the Joshibi students on a short stroll.

We started in Kamakura (which is one of the more hazy parts of this photo) and then along the coast to Enoshima; a total of about 7km or 19053 strides if you happen to have been kitted out with pedometers at the start of the expedition. [don’t ask me - I’ve no idea what was going on!]

The first port of call in Kamakura was the Daibutsu.

And then we visited another temple before heading for the coast.

We then hiked along the seafront from town to town until reaching Enoshima an hour or two later. [having paused en route so Lydia could paddle in the Pacific so as to add to her collection of Oceans]

As it turned out we only ended up with 45 minutes to cross the causeway into Enoshima, climb the hill, have a quick nose around the temple grounds and then hot-foot it back to the mainland to meet Sensei.

All in all a pretty impressive day. We got our first slice of Japanese heritage (albeit given the fairly ubiquitous tourist trap treatment) and it was great to be outside and above ground.

It was the first time in Kamakura/Enoshima for most of our companions too, so there was a real sense of exploration and discovery. Also the rain managed to hold off for most of the day!

Many thanks to Shimada for her efforts as guide.