13 September 2009

Having seen the island of Enoshima during the Zushi boat trip with Jill and Anna last month I had a hankering to go there. On investigation, it turned out that we could get there in less than an hour from Shinagawa so we wasted no time in setting off there to explore. On the way to the station we stopped to watch our local portable shrine being walked along the main road; at that time of morning the chanting was a bit more subdued without the beer to enlivened it.



Again, we splashed out on green car seats to Ofuna, then transferred to the Shonan Monorail. This line is very unusual as the train hangs down from an overhead track, and winds up through some steep little hills to get over to the coast. It was quite exciting, and almost felt a bit risky as the carriages swayed out on the bends.


The additional height afforded great views of Fuji too, which was visible thanks to the clear early autumn air.

From the terminus we walked down the main shopping street for ten minutes, to the parallel road and pedestrian bridges that cross the gap from mainland to Enoshima island. In the old days it was only accessible at low tide, across a sand bar. There is only one street, which is narrow and lined with shops selling tourist tat and Japanese fast food, such as thin sheets of dried octopus and sweet rice crackers.




This leads up the hill to a shrine, at the foot of which an escalator is incongruously placed, to whisk people up to the observatory. We plumped for continuing on foot as far as we could go, and took the path leading round the west side of the island, on top of steep cliffs. We eventually had to navigate a series of steps with the pushchair, after which we came across another couple of shrines. The second was fashioned like a grotto, with a huge copper dragon sitting atop the entrance.


From there we had to abandon the buggy at the head of a series of stairs down to the rocky sea edge. It was quite stirring watching the surf crashing on the rocks, with Fuji as a backdrop.

Around the headland we came to some caves, and decided to stump up the entrance fee and see what they held. The first rocky passage was lined with stone images of various deities. It was not lit, so we were given tiny birthday cake-sized candles to light our way. Emily was a bit scared at times and gripped our hands tightly in the darkest places. There didn't seem to be anything much in the second cave except a naff dragon lurking at the end with a glowing 'pearl' in its jaws and surrounded by phoney glowing jewels. On the way out Nick noticed a large collection of the cockroach-like bugs that we've seen at many seaside places in Japan.


Emily slept in the stroller, while we walked back off the island and wandered the streets looking in vain for a suitable lunch venue. I wanted somewhere that did noodles, usually about all you can get in some places we've been lately, but nowhere to be found here. Emily woke up and was upset. Even a biscuit didn't calm her down. We exchanged a few words, as I got stressed by her crying and Nick was fed up at me being fussy about where we ate. We saw a bog standard Chinese that did noodles and settled for that. Emily ate some strips of cucumber and a little tofu; I thought she would enjoy the noodles but she was still upset and pestered to get down. Then I realised that she was doing a poo. After an awkward standing up change in the basic facilities, she still didn't seem at all happy so we finished quickly and left.

We went back down the street to the beach of brown volcanic sand. It is a very long stretch of beach so there was plenty of space, and most people there were surfers and windsurfers plus a few families. Nick and Emily wasted no time and went straight in the water. The waves were powerful but the sea was shallow. After some tortuous manoevres changing under a small towel, I went in too; the water was cool but not freezing. I enjoyed jumping as each roller toppled.



Back at the station we stopped for refreshments at a little mom-and-pop cafe we'd spotted earlier. I'd noted earlier that the cakes in the window looked homemade. They were really delicious, and unlike the usual Japanese offerings that pass for cake, these were heavy in texture, more like English ones. Nick's moist apple cake was to die for and my walnut tart was fab. They were lavishing praise on Nick's Japanese ability and he got extra brownie points for telling her the cakes reminded us of home.