Maku Disney Travel Agents Near Me

Overview

Introduction

From North Hilo to Waipio Valley, the Hamakua coast offers splendid ocean views—take the road below the one marked "scenic point" to see Laupahoehoe Point without the houses blocking your view.

This area receives 84 in/213 cm of rainfall a year, and is lined with waterfalls and lush tropical rainforests. During much of the 19th and 20th centuries, this land was covered with sugarcane. These days, small farmers grow a variety of fresh produce, such as hearts of palm, tomatoes and tropical fruit.

Stop and tour the orchid-filled Hawaii Tropical Botanical Garden and World Botanical Gardens, home to the three-level Umauma Falls.

Inland, stop at Kalopa State Park and Akaka Falls, where you can take a 40-minute walk through a beautiful fern forest to the falls. Even if you are unable to tour Waipio Valley, gaze from the overlook area at this lush, peaceful place.

Overview

Introduction

The most impressive site in the ancient city and religious center of Kamakura, located 30 mi/50 km south of Tokyo, is the photogenic Daibutsu, a giant 120-ton/108-metric ton bronze statue of the Buddha. The statue has an amazing history: Cast in the 13th century, it originally was housed in a temple about a mile/kilometer farther inland. In 1495, a giant tsunami washed the temple away, and since then the Daibutsu has sat in the open.

Kamakura also offers scores of ancient shrines and temples, many of them scattered in the hills that surround the city on three sides. The imposing Tsurugaoka Hachimangu shrine is in the center of town; Zeni-arai Benten (the "money-washing" shrine) is also a favorite pilgrimage spot; Engakuji is one of the oldest and most important Zen monasteries in Japan; and Tokeiji (the Bamboo Temple) is also an atmospheric site.

The Museum of Modern Art, Kamakura and Hayama, in the precinct of Tsurugaoka Hachimangu, was designed by a Japanese student of Le Corbusier. Kamakura also boasts one of the closest beaches to Tokyo.

You can take a ride on the Enoden, a railway that is part train, part streetcar, that runs along the coast from Kamakura to Enoshima, a traditional pilgrimage spot, and then to Fujisawa, southwest of Yokohama. This journey will give you unique glimpses of the hills and ocean (and some people's backyards).

Overview

Introduction