Got back from our trip to Hakone. Had a great time, but am absolutely exhausted, so a full recap (possibly through pictures?) will have to wait. In the past two days we visited multiple historical sites, went out on lake Ashi on a row boat, went to to different onsens, and camped. Where we were rained on. And then to cap it all off, we ate at this kaiten sushi place, where any special orders you make are sent to you by a little shinkansen (mini highspeed train). Very fun.
Will add more detail in the am.
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Having a yummy breakfast at Helen's place, and thought Id take the chance to recap the last two days before something else exciting happens.
So, after our early start two days ago, we drove past that Kamakura, where Helen and I saw temples a few days ago, and drove along the ocean a bit which was nice - come japanese surfers commute by bicycle which is fun to watch. We then stopped at a highway stop which was notable for being so high tech. The fanciest washrooms ever - so many options attached to your toilet seat. Speakers to play flushing noises, heating, various sprays. They really go all out. And then I bought iced coffee out of a machine which was fancy because there's a video where you can watch what they're doing to your drink - grinding beans, brewing etc.
Our next (really, our first proper stop) was at Odowara jo, this reconstructed Japanese castle. Apparently really popular as a flower viewing area. We had just missed hydrangeas, which are apparently really popular here, but it was prime lotus blossom season. So after stopping for some pictures, we go onwards to Hakone. Helen and I go off on various trains and cable cars up the mountain, while Hisashi goes off by car to run some errands then meet us at at the end. The cable cars were cool, and we got luckily enough to have a break in the cloud cover and get a nice view of mount fuji out of one of them. Anyways, the main point of the cable cars and such are toget you to Owakudani, this portion of the mountain where its all dead earth and smoking pits - bits of the volcano underneath peaking out. Anyways, we trek up this little path (many steps. but atleast realtively even?) to get to this booth where we enjoy the specialty of the region - eggs boiled in the natural springs. The springs turn the eggshells black which is kind of cool, though the eggs taste pretty normal. Apparently it promotes long life which is interesting. Another interesting photo op is taking pictures with a hello kitty statue where shes dressed as a black egg, and another one where shes all done up in the traditional parquet like wood work the area is known for. She really has been everywhere.
We then headed back down the mountain, where we met Hisashi and headed off to our camp site. Apparently, you cant drive up to it, so we parked and then loaded our stuff (read - like most camping things, Hisashi and Helen did the heavy lifting while I supervised) into this cart and took it down a path to our site. The sites in Japan are smaller than back home, but it wasn't really busy, so it was ok. So we set up camp, had some bento boxes that Hisashi picked up for us, and then Helen and I went for a walk to the nearest little town, while Hisashi went to fish. Helen and I went out on to lake Ashi which was nice. Good views of this ferry boat shaped like a Japanese pirate ship. Why there would be a pirate ship on a lake, I have no idea. When we got back it was time for dinner, which was korean barbecue. A lot of korean barbecue. We started up the fire on the grill, and just kept adding in more meat and vegetables. pork, beef, scallops, chicken. Really went all out by my standards, though apparently it was low key by japanese standards. Some of the neighboring campers would book a second site just to set up a full on kitchen area.
After that, relaxed by the fire for a bit, before heading out to the little onsen at the campsite. Its mainly a way to get clean, with bathing really well preceding sitting in whats pretty much a tub of hot water. It was meant to be an introduction to the rules of using an onsen, of which there are many, but I really enjoyed it partly because of the presence of western showers. Japanese style, like at Helen's place, you sit on a little stool, and then use this water jet thing to clean yourself - it doesn't quite reach standing height. standing properly while having water overhead was a nice change of pace. Got back to the site all nice and clean and started getting ready for bed - it was still relatively early, but already dark so there wasn't much else to do after sitting by the fire some more.
And this is actually where the excitement begins. We get into the tents, start falling asleep, only to be woken up by really loud singing. A group of what we think were boy scouts having a bonfire. We sit there waiting for the magical 10pm lights out time before we complain about the noise, only to have it start raining. Which was fine, except that after a little while we hear thunder, and the rain picks up a bit. Still all good, so when it quiets down, we go to bed again.
Only to be woken up part way through the night (still raining) to discover that water is getting in the tent. So we decided to move it in the middle of the night (still assembled, so it was rather an impressive operation) to this nearby cooking area where there's a shelter. Again, all good for awhile, and while we have the lights of the cooking shelter to deal with, atleast we have the promise of staying relatively dry.
But then we are woken up again at like 5am by announcements coming from loud speakers - which no one can understand because they're a bit too far away, and there was too much fuzziness. And then there was what sounded like air raid sirens. No one seemed to be evacuating their sites, so we similarly stayed put, but no clue what was going on. We were to far up the mountain for it to be an actual typhoon, no matter what the rain felt like, and it was also unlikely that it was an actual air raid. And then this was all repeated at 5:30am. We found out in the morning that it was warnings that the dams to the side of the lake were being opened because of the rain we were getting. Though apparently they do set off the same noises for other reasons, like once a few days previously when an old man got lost in the middle of the night.
After that we doze a bit more before properly waking up. We stay in the cooking shelter to cook our breakfast (mainly food we didn't manage to get to the night before). Only problem was that we didn't bring all our stuff to the shelter the night before, and one of the things we left at our water soaked site was the fire wood. So getting the fire going was a production of finding charcoal from old fires nearby, ripping apart what was apparently a bad book on kayaking, and eventually me tossing in pieces of bacon into the fire. It all worked out though, so we had yummy sausages, soup and noodles for breakfast.
Plan for the day was to visit this super nice onsen at one of the Prince Hotels in Hakone, though that wouldn't be on until a bit later in the day. So we spent the morning visiting Hakone Shrine, where Helen got married, as well as Hakone Sekisho, a reconstructed checkpoint on the ancient road from Edo to Kyoto, apparently in charge of keeping women from escaping Edo. Which I dont fully understand, but eh. The shrine was really beautiful. The trees were massive, and it was all definitely worth climbing up the irregular stone stairs. we even passed by students having lessons in traditional japanese archery, which was fun to watch. Totally looked like something out of an anime, what with everyone running about in their martial arts/temple clothes.
Still a bit more time to kill, so we have a quick lunch at the near by cable car station. Had taco rice which was fun, partly because Helen and Hisashi ordered it from a computer. Then headed off to the prince hotel. The onsen was definitely nicer here - besides having slippers, and a full set of lotions and soaps and shampoos and such available, the onsens themselves had a view of a traditional Japanese gardens. Helen says that they get even nicer, with some having outdoor baths, but I thought it was nice and relaxing, particularly after our rough night.
Next was our ridiculously long drive back to Tokyo, where we hit a tonne of traffic. Stopped twice for little breaks a long the way, before making it back to the city two hours later than expected. Nearish to Helens place we stopped for dinner at what might be my favourite restaurant in Tokyo. Kaiten sushi, which Ive had before, but at this much bigger place. Like usual, there's sushi on a conveyor belt that you can take off as it passes by you, and little hot water spigots where you can make your own matcha tea. But there are also these computerized screens where you can make special orders. And when your food is ready, it zooms past on this little shinkansen train, stopping right in front of you. very fun, and I definitely ate too much.
And that's pretty much what i was up to for the last two days. Its raining right now, and Ive done most of what I set out to see here in Japan, so just a chill day of running a few errands and then hitting up a museum today.
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