teamEggers

Hakone [Part 3]

… so you may be wondering what we actually did in Hakone. With two full posts dedicated to *getting there* (scroll down if you missed those), you’re probably curious what all the fuss was over.

Hakone seems to be the equivalent of a state park here. There’s a lot of nature, which unfortunately also means a lot of people (though we did have a few moments where we felt like we were the only ones in the area). The scenery was just breathtaking – even a cityphile like me can appreciate the views, though I am happy that we didn’t end up actually hiking *up* any of the mountains.

After a modest breakfast of tamago onsen, some sausage that Wally brought with him from Alaska and a few leftover bits of candy, we set out for the lake. Our cabins were at the northern end of Lake Ashi, and there were some sights we had in mind at the south end of the lake. So we took a boat…

Which was more like a kitchy pirate ship. And you know, jon and i love kitchy pirate ships as much as the next guy, so we had a good time.

The snow stopped early in the morning, but the clouds never really broke in the right spots for us to see fuji. I imagine it was beautiful – maybe someday we’ll get back.

Mostly out of curiosity, I ordered a cup of “hakone milk”. It was definitely different than good ol’ Wisconsin milk. Maybe different cows? As a coping strategy for eating/drinking new things, i think it’s best to not think of them as something that you know, and expect their tastes to be familiar. I think that’s why people get grossed out. If I tried this milk thinking “mmm… milk.” I would have been really creeped out by its completely different taste. If you approach new food without expectation, you’re more likely to be satisfied. Totally drinkable, but certainly not milk as I know it.

At the base of the lake there was a checkpoint. In old Japan, you weren’t free to travel across the country as you pleased – you needed to carry the appropriate papers and present them at checkpoints throughout the country. While I’ve read about these, I’ve never actually seen photos of one, so it was really interesting to see how it worked.

There was also a reenactment of life in the barracks set up, so we could learn a bit about how the soldiers lived and what their things looked like. All in all, a pretty cool experience. I’m glad we made it over there.

Oh, and here’s jon dressed up like a lady again. I kind of love these.

We also had tea at the Detached Palace Gardens. It is supposed to be, hands down, the best viewing spot of fuji. The thick green tea we drank out of bowls was good, but the view was wasted on us. The gardens were great because there was NO ONE there. It was one of the only spots that it was possible to forget where you were.

Hakone [Part 4]

…After the gardens, we walked through the ancient cedar avenue. 120 Cedars were planted in the Edo period on either side of the main highway. Given a couple hundred years to thrive, the trees became very impressive.

At this point in the day we began our ascent back home, planning adequate time for a layover to take in an onsen (hot baths). We hopped on a bus that was quite possibly the most adventuresome bus ride I’ve ever experienced. The first half of the 45 minute trip was laden with switchbacks, taking the curves at carsick-inducing speeds.

But once the mountains flattened out a bit, we realized the ride was just starting to get interesting. The town it went through was so small that they only had a 1 lane road. A 1 lane road, that is, for two directions of traffic. And while the town itself was small, it happened to be a majour thoroughfare for traffic between where we were and where we were going. We almost hit another bus. Several times we had to pull over and wait for oncoming traffic to stop, back up, and let us through – we were, after all, bigger.

Once we got to our destination, we headed to the onsen. Have you ever been to hot springs? Big, public outdoor hot baths heated by natural springs? Onsens are kind of like that except you don’t wear a bathing suit, so most of the time they’re separated into boys and girls. This may have been the most relaxing 2 hours of my life.

I’m not good at relaxing. I’m uptight. This is a known fact. It took me about an hour just to talk myself into quieting my thoughts and enjoying the surroundings. I would imagine that some people are self-conscious and that is the source of their anxious mind, but I’m just… always on edge. The second hour…. let me tell you, once I got the hang of this “relaxation” thing, I rocked the shit out of it.

Once we left the onsen, we headed back into town and tried to find dinner. Mind you, it is now SEVEN pm on a Sunday night. We found exactly one place open. The decor was kind of creepy, and the menu options were limited, but it sure did beat eating rice balls from 7-11.

So that’s hakone. I hope you enjoyed our adventure.

Hakone [Part 1]

Our well-worn tour book describes the journey:

Starting out by train from Tokyo, you switch to a small two-car streetcar that zigzags up the mountain, then change to a cable car, then to a smaller ropeway, and you end your trip wth a board ride across Lake Ashi. From Lake Ashi, you can then board a bus bound for Odawara Station where you board the train back to Tokyo.

Sounds whirlwind, right? While it seems like we spent the better part of the weekend “in transit”, it still felt like an adventure.

it was kind of like this

On the zigzag parts, the streetcar conductor would actually hop out of the train and run along these little platforms to the other end, where he’d start driving again.

The train was standing-room-only packed which added to the craziness of it all, but really detracted from the picture taking.

Midway up the mountain we stopped for lunch. This is me, jill and wally (jill and stephen’s houseguest):

The only place open (on a Saturday at noon?) was this little korean place. Which is cool because we’re going to Korea in three days. (more on that later)

Stopping randomly in a little mountain town sounds like a great spot to have a little mountain town adventure, right? We hopped off the train midday to find some lunch and explore a bit. We stumbled on into this really old hotel that has awesome architecture and really cool gardens.

And I met a monkey.

And in true form, Jon fed some fish. If only there were a petting zoo. I’m going through goat withdrawals.

So what’s the deal with peace prevailing on earth? I see this shit everywhere. I mean, i’m peace-lovin and whatnot, but come on.

Okay, okay, after that we hop back on the ziggy mc zaggerton and up on the ropeway to the top of the mountain. But wait! On the way, we stopped at this place… we’ll call it the Hell’s Valley… it was this mountain full of sulphuric smoke and seismic activity.

Okay, so what’s the very coolest about this is that they do this thing called tamago onsen. Tamago means egg. Onsen is a hotbath. So a tamago onsen is an egg hard boiled in the hot springs! omg! and the shell turns black.. and look! here’s Hello Kitty as a tamago onsen!

What’s even awesomer is that the tour book billed this as a 30 minute “nature hike”. hahaha. here’s the nature hike. check it:

AND … stay tuned for part 2.

Hakone [Part 2]

…Back up on the gondola, there should be fantastic views of Mt. Fuji.

Obviously, it was a bit cloudy. It’s unfortunate because Hakone is supposed to be one of the best spots to view fuji from on a clear day. On an overcast day, it was just another beautiful vista.

And here’s the gondola that we like to sit in when we want to travel from one mountain peak to another mountain peak:

But we eventually got to the lake and found our bea-u-tiful cabin.

and like, oh my god. there was a kitchen and a great view and two bedrooms and a vaulted ceiling. We brought in some food and boozy mc boozerton and made dinner and such. It was awesome.

Also there are lots of crazy shoes. They like to have different shoes for different places in the house. there are outside shoes, there are inside shoes, there are bathroom shoes, and there are porch shoes. These are the special porch shoes. And this is a special picture.

This is jon and michelle:

And this is stephen and Jill:

and this is the famed tamago onsen:

And I think I’ve written enough for one night. we will continue again in the ‘morrow. Perhaps I will be more coherent with my story telling.