Day 5 - Hakone to Kyoto

The began like many others had: in search of coffee!  Our ryokan had a coffee machine in the lobby, so we availed ourselves of a cup to start the day.  We had a myriad of things to do, and a short timetable, so we skipped the breakfast offering from the ryokan and worked on packing up for the next leg of our journey.  After assembling our luggage, we bid farewell to the friendly staff at the front desk and climbed the hill to the bus stop.  In just a few moments, the Touzan bus appeared and carried us to Odawari station, where we would board a high-speed (Shinkansen) train from Odawari to Kyoto.

Arriving at the platform a few minutes before the train was scheduled to arrive, Karl hoped to get a picture or video of the trains speeding through the station.  Sadly, he missed two opportunitties, due to the trains' sudden, yet almost silent appearance.  When our train quietly "whooshed" not the station, we took our seats and found ourselves hurtling through the countryside.  As this was a "short" route with several stops, the Shinkansen was not scheduled to exceed 150mph, not that we could tell the difference between 120mph and 150mph....

Until today, the weather in Japan had been warm and sunny.  Today's forecast included rain for the region, which was sure to add a little complexity to the execution of the day's plans.  Still, the rain was probably welcome to the locals, as it had only rained a few days in the few weeks Karl had been watching the weather.

In just over two hours, we traveled the 240miles from Hakone to Kyoto.  Kyoto, once the old capital of Japan, is known as the most popular tourist location in Japan.  In just a few short moments, we saw considerably more foreigners than we'd seen in Tokyo.  Moreover, we saw many large groups of middle school students, most likely on a school excursion to Kyoto.

Our tour company booked a Japanese tea ceremony with an English-speaking guide for us at a specific time, so we made our way from the train station to our hotel.  While we could take a bus or the subway, we opted for a taxi, to ensure we'd have plenty of time.  In contrast to the classic ryokan we left, our driver delivered us to the front door of the modern Kasamura Kyoto hotel, which could easily pass for an American Hyatt or Westin Hotel.

With a quick change in wardrobe, we were out the door and headed to the subway stop, also conveniently located 20 feet from the hotel lobby.  We took the train to Higashiyama station, just a few blocks from the tea house.  After a short walk, we arrived at our destination.  Our hostess greeted us and led us to a tatami mat-lined room.  The air smelled faintly of incense, from an  stick burning near the door.  We were invited to join a few other guests (a pair of 20-something girls from Switzerland) sitting on the floor.  After a few minutes, our hostess discussed the various preparations for hosting a Japanese tea ceremony, including items such as the fan, tea cups, and so on.  After the introduction, another younger hostess performed the movements of the tea ceremony, gracefully drawing water, heating it, pouring the tea powder, whisking the tea with water and serving it.  Afterwards, she discussed the movements themselves.  After taking a quick picture of her and the arrangements, we concluded our visit to the En Tea House and were back on the rainy street.

We walked back across town to our hotel, and could see Kyoto Tower illuminated in the evening sky.  The tower was adjacent to Kyoto Station and made it easy to enter the malls and shops at the base of the tower, which connected to the shops beneath the station itself.  In the basement of Kyoto Station, the grocers had many upscale food shops.  Delicate tea cakes, ornate box lunches and all manner of foods were available.  Since we couldn't find a seating place to eat, we opted to try the restaurants on the 11th floor.  There, we found an Italian restaurant that served a variety of Italian dishes.

After our meal of spaghetti and steak, we were certainly ready for bed.  Returning home on the subway, we were soon fast asleep as soon as our heads hit the pillows!

Day 4 - All About Hakone

Monday morning came all-to-early, waking at just after 4:30AM local time.  After putting away our futon (bed rolls), we enjoyed some hot tea overlooking the small mountain stream that runs behind the ryokan.  Once we were ready for the day, we opted to walk down the hill to a local 7-11.  The sun was up, so we could easily navigate the narrow street (though Karl was always a footstep away from standing in the street to be hit by a car!) and watch people s they went about starting their day.  The town was quite hilly, so we could often see the lush, green scenery around us. 

A little over a half mile away, we found ourselves at our destination.  Japan is a very cash-based society, even though ATMs and even tap-to-pay with cards and now phones have been around for over 20 years.  We would easily find ourselves in places that would only accept cash, so the ATMs at 7-11 are a good bet - other than (most) banks, Japanese ATMs almost never accept foreign ATMs, except for Visa.  As our credit and  cards are MasterCard, this was a safe bet. 

After getting cash and coffee, we returned to our hotel for breakfast.  And what a breakfast it was!  The ryokan put forth a lavish spread of miso soup, pickled vegetables and a soft-boiled egg, which we cooked in the sterno-fired pots at our table that kept the miso soup hot.  Also a first for us, we were served a large, broiled mackerel for breakfast.  That was certainly different!  It took a little work to eat with chopsticks, but we polished it off just fine.  After our meal, we returned to our room, then headed out for the day. 

First up the day's itinerary: visiting Hakone National Park.  At nearly 300 sq. kilometers, Hakone National Park features many hiking trails, museums, cultural tours, camp grounds, exposition and craft halls,  and Lake Ashi, a large freshwater lake over 20km in circumference.  We took the mountain  car to the Gora stop, where we could take a mountain cable car over the mountains to the other side.  The railway included many switchbacks, as the single rails serviced several routes in both directions.  When we reached Goza, signs indicated the mountain cable cars were closed, due to recent increased volcanic activity (don't worry - there was no chance of eruption, only increased out-gassing from the mountains, which hampered visibility).  The local bus would get us where we wanted to go, so Karl stopped in to the Travel Information counter near the train station.  The station attendant indicated the other passenger at the counter was headed the same way (an elderly woman, traveling alone), and we could follow her all the way to Lake Ashi.  The elderly woman even had hand-written notes from the attendant, which made sure  she had the transfer points between busses.

After boarding our bus, we traveled through Hakone, passing many museums and cultural stops.  The bus finally arrived at Togendai station, at the north of Lake Ashi.  We could see the silent cable cars and their lines stretching over the mountains, dutifully waiting to resume operation some day.  Lake Aisha features a Pirate Ship tour of the lake, North to South, so we boarded with many other passengers, several of them from many different foreign countries.  As the boat cruised south, many passengers clamored about the deck, getting pictures of one another and taking incessant selfies.  A few minutes out from the dock, Mt. Fuji itself came into view between the neighboring mountains.  Of course, everyone sprang to various corners of the deck, snapping pictures of the mountain.  We, too, snagged a few pictures of ourselves with the majestic mountain in view.  

As the boat docked at the south of Lake Ashi, we stayed aboard while it would continue to the East dock at Motohakone. 

As we put it to the lively port, Ramona saw a cafe she'd seen in one of our tour books.  We stopped for a quick bite of specialty breads, and took advantage of their interesting outdoor seating.  The patio was lined with chairs underneath a long, marble table, 30 or so feet long.  We couldn't pull out the chairs and suddenly noticed that the foot area was a long foot-soaking trough.  We slipped off our shoes and joined the other patrons in soaking our feet in the hot water.  What a surprise!

To start our journey in the park, we stopped at nearby 7-11 (Oh! Thank heaven for 7-11: meals, cash, water and snacks!) and loaded up on water and other necessities. While watching The Amazing Race, one of the challenges included opening traditional Japanese wooden puzzle boxes.  This area is known for its woodworking, so we hoped to find some of these boxes. Our first stop was a short bus ride to the Hatajuku Wooden Handicraft center.  At the center, the shop owner handed us an English sign, inviting us to assemble wooden puzzle pieces into a souvenir we could glue together and take home.  As we labored over or wooden puzzle pieces, other customers came and went, buying various wooden boxes, trinkets and such.  With our new treasures carefully glued together on a plastic background, we purchased a wooden puzzle box and studied our maps for our next destination.  The shop keeper pointed out the bus would be arriving soon, so we said our goodbyes and stepped out, just in time to meet the next bus.

The bus returned us to our starting point, Motohakone, where we could now visit a different area of the park.  Our next visit would be to Yunessun (pronounced "unison"), a popular water park.  Thankfully, Ramona packed our  suits, so we could enjoy a visit like this!  The bus wound it's way across the park to Kowakidani station and stopped right at the water park. The travel pass we used for the busses and trains in the area also gave us discount in the park, which our cashier explained in excellent English.  After changing in the locker rooms, we entered the indoor portion of the water park.  It featured an Olympic swimming pool-sized central  area.  As it was Monday, the park was largely unoccupied, so largely had the place to ourselves.  We soaked inside for a few, then went to the water slides outside.

One of the attractions of Yunessun includes several themed spa tubs, including a Wine Bath, Coffee Bath, Sake Bath and a Green Tea Bath.  Of course, none of the baths were for drinking, but it added a fun element to the day.  We enjoyed many of the above baths, then had a pair of ice cream cones.  Another attraction of Yunessun is "Dr. Fish", a pool where you can dip your feet in water with tiny fish that nibble at exfoliated skin.  It's a strange sensation - a combination of being rubbed by tiny little sponges, and little things nipping at your toes!  Still, it was a fun experience and we had quite the laugh.

Afterwards, we said goodbye to Hakone National Park, taking the bus back to our ryokan.  We changed into yukata, Japanese cotton robes commonly worn in summer months and at ryokan, and headed up to the dining room for dinner.  Tonight's dinner was by far the most lavished.  We had another sterno-fired pot on the table, this one featuring cabbage, chicken and pork.  As our pot cooked, the waitstaff brought rice and pickled vegetables.  As we began to finish the pot, a large dish arrived with a large red snapper.  By the time it was all over, we'd had a Huge meal!

Back in our rooms after dinner, there was just enough time to pull out our futons, before falling asleep.

Day 3 - Tokyo to Hakone

Waking in our hotel, we prepared for the day and headed down to the complimentary continental breakfast.  Like yesterday, we were offered rice, onigiri (rice balls), beans, tea, coffee and sweet bread. After forwarding our luggage to Hakone, Mona loaded up her Starbucks Via (which worked great with the induction hot water heater in our room), then set out for adventure!

Today's location was Odaiba, a Japanese waterfront areathat's a mix of  Navy Pier, a gigantic shopping mall, Atlanta's CNN Center and a small California beach, all rolled into one.  We took the train from Akasuka to Odaiba, getting off just after crossing over the bridge from the major portion of the city.  We walked through an area called DECKS, a large pavillion arranged like the decks of a sailing ships, filled with a collection of sea-level restaurants.  Some random sights included a 60-ft tall replica of the Statue of Liberty.  It was surrounded by tourists, snapping pictures and capturing selfies with the replica.

We continued onward to the next area, the FUJI TV building, one of the major broadcasters in Japan.  The outdoor pavillion had signs for some attractions, including a concert, but we opted to continue onward.  We crossed a bridge and continued along.  Next up: Tokyo Beach, a pleasant space with water sports and jet ski rentals.  Just beyond, we entered a mall called "Diver City".  The mall featured an impressive collection of expensive restaurants and shops, as well an amazing collection of confections and sweets.  For Karl, our goal was on the opposite side: GUNDAM Front.  This plaza holds a 46-foot statute of the iconic RX-78-2 Mobile Suit (read: giant robot).  At night, the statue is illuminated and many of the lights on the robot are turned on as well.  

After numerous pictures were taken, we continued on through another pavillion called MegaWeb, a showcase of Toyota vehicles.  On the other side was the Pallette Town ferris wheel, where we stopped to take a brief ride.  From its great height, we could see much of Tokyo's waterfront, and much of the city itself.

Our next stop was another shopping mall, this one called Venus Fort.  As we strolled along, you can imagine it looks much like the Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas, without the waterways along the path.  The soft lighting and overhead sky painted on the ceiling made for a relaxing atmosphere.  Before making our return journey to Toyko, we paused for a photo-op outside a train station entrance called "Tokyo Teleport Station".  While having nothing to do with teleportation, this station is often a running joke about the future of transportation in Japan.

Pictures in hand, we chose to return to Asakusa by way of a water bus, an enclosed glass top water taxi.  The ride would slowly take us along the river, and let us see much of the waterway.  After boarding the taxi, we had a quick snack - Ramona had tortillas and salsa, while Karl had a beer.  Seated next to us on the bus was a young Japanese family, a husband, wife and two children.  The wife asked where we were from (in very good English) and took a picture with us.  We had a short, but pleasant, conversation with them, and Ramona gave them her business card.

The Asakusa water port was bustling with activity, thanks to the wonderful weather.  We worked our way back to our hotel, stopped by a nearby tourist information center.  We would later come to rely on these information centers throughout our trip as a handy means of figuring out what to see and do and how to obtain what we needed. The tourist information center attendant spoke excellent English, and told us that we could get excellent food at the basement of the department stores.  We crossed the street to a department store, and found an excellent store in the basement.  After collecting a mix of foods for lunch, we returned to our hotel for lunch. 

Stuffed to the gills, we grabbed our luggage and headed for the train station. A short while later, we were in the Hakone area.  We changed from the long-distance JR train to the local subway. After getting toTonosawa, we had a brief mixup in trains.  Oops!  After getting sorted out, we were on our way to again!

The mountainous area were we in was quite different than the dense, urban Tokyo we'd come to know.  We exited our train and meandered down a long stairwell to the narrow city streets.  Turned from the station, we soon arrived at to our ryokan, full of friendly staff.  After checking in, we inspected our room to find it included a private onset bath.  After a quick dip, it wasn't long before dinner, a three-course meal of rice, cooked meats and vegetables and a small sherbet for desert!

After a long day of activity, it wasn't long before we pulled out futon to sleep atop the woven tatami mats on the floor and were fast asleep.