Every Golden Week, our family tends to stay in the neighborhood.
Because the crowds and prices are crazy wherever we go,
this time we took my nephew to "Tokyo Bay Kannon".
It's less than an hour's drive from Tokyo, crossing the "Aqua-Line". A 56m tall Kannon statue sits atop a mountain,
and for 600 yen, you can go inside the statue.
Inside, you climb narrow, steep stairs, equivalent to 15 stories of a building.
When you reach the upper body of the Kannon, there is an observation space with a panoramic view of Tokyo Bay,
and the scenery changes depending on the floor.
Reaching the top, you're greeted with a magnificent view, as if looking down on the earth from heaven.
The spectacular views of Tokyo Bay and the lush green mountains of Chiba are truly special.
This is a recommended tourist spot that gives you a pleasant feeling, as if ascending to heaven, much like the "Giotto's Campanile" in Florence, Italy, that I climbed before.
I don't think this place is crowded with tourists, but I wonder if that's still the case?
During long holidays, wherever you go, there are always crowds, which can be irritating. Perhaps being in nature where there are fewer people would make for a more relaxing holiday for both my family and me.
However, on the way back, what should have been a 30-minute drive via the Aqua-Line turned into what looked like a 5-hour journey, so we took a detour and came back via a different expressway, but even that took 3 hours.
It seems that travel during long holidays needs to be planned carefully.
