This was a wonderful trip but what would it be with out a series of interesting photos. They are in no particular order. Some I found funny, some I found interesting (usually from a cultural standpoint). At the end of this post I have a very important request.
We were given these at one meal but help me here, why are they needed?If you are not interested in bread or yogurt for breakfast, how about some “serial” at the Gate Hotel in TokyoIn Nara, beware of deer. Fashion statement in Kyoto.If your wheelchair can’t handle stairs how about a ramp at about a 60° slope?Tired from too much walking in Nara? Try this rest area.We saw these things EVERYWHERE.Sorry, this has me speechless.We were told laundry drying machines are not seen in Japan. Instead you see this.If the lightning fast elevators in our Hakone hotel are too slow for you, have a seat.Would you like some water?Or would you prefer detox water?If you want to used the public baths in Hakone you better not have any tattoos. Again I am speechless.The Gate Hotel in Tokyo watches you when you are in the elevator. Look at this balding guy taking a picture of himself.I have no clue how this works. If you are looking for a “bathroom” you will get a blank stare. If you ask for the “toilet” they will lead you here. They might open the door for you as well but luckily after that you are on your own.Many of the hotels have a small bedside flashlight. Very convenient.2 in 1? Get a haircut while you have your teeth cleaned?That does it, it is time to go home!I leave you with this photo of Kyoto Tower. Quite an amazing picture if I do say so myself.
We are now home but I need your help. Please send me your recommendations of where to travel to next. We are thinking about Norway, Sweden, and or Finland. If you have been to these locations please send me your “Must See” list.
As you might recall I left you last night after Patrice and I had spent a relaxing evening in the hotel onsen (spa). We both slept like babies and when we awoke this morning in this incredibly picturesque and romantic environment we both had the same thing in mind…………… BREAKFAST!
OMG does not do justice to the breakfast buffet. They say a picture is worth a thousand words. If that is the case let me cash in with these.
Nice fresh fruit to start?Don’t forget your veggies.How about some protein in the form of grilled salmon?Oh, do you prefer your salmon just smoked and sliced?Salmon not your preference, maybe grilled fish marinated with miso paste is more to your liking?Or do you prefer crab?Not a fish person? Try the salami instead.Or the cured ham.Maybe chicken is all you need this morning.How about topping everything off with some pastries.
That was not all. They offered Japanese omelette (very good I might add), fried horse mackerel (not my favorite but I did give it a try), coffee, juices, cereals (I guess if you travel with your 6 year old), flan, yogurt, and a host of other things too numerous to name. Actually too numerous for me to remember.
After recovering from breakfast we met our guide, Hiro, for a day exploring Hakone. Hiro is a retired mechanical engineer and a great guide. He introduced us to our driver, Yoshi, telling us he is a very good driver (“He didn’t have an accident all day yesterday”). Our first stop was the Hakone Ropeway. When we approached the area we could see the cable cars traversing high above what is a dormant volcano. Hiro reassured us that the volcano has not erupted in 3000 years. Well except a small eruption about 8 years ago that destroyed a large portion of the hillside. That was comforting until I saw the line to get on the cars. See below.
Not much of a line to get on the tram. Does someone know something we don’t?
Once we entered the car Hiro told us the best place to sit and asked if we where okay. I said I was fine except I have a tremendous fear of heights. The ride was very smooth and we got some great views.
Those white smoke clouds are vapors escaping from the “dormant” volcano.This view of Mt. Fuji from the cable car was magnificent. It was also fantastic seeing it from the ground. See below.What a gorgeous sight (us not the mountain).
In addition to Mt. Fuji we were able to see the famous Hakone Black Eggs. Apparently these are just normal eggs but they are cooked using the local water which has a very high sulfur content. This results in giving the shells a black appearance while everything else about the egg is perfectly normal.
The famous Hakone Black Eggs.
After some more touring it was time for lunch. Unfortunately we went to two places that were both very busy. So we shifted gears and did some more sightseeing before heading to lunch. Patrice expressed an interest in having soba noodles since we had already had the other two popular Japanese noodles, udon and ramen. With our failure to find a table at two prior locations, Hiro was cautious this time and sent Yoshi in to see if the next place could accommodate us. Yoshi gave us the okay sign and we were on our way. When we entered we saw that the entire restaurant consisted of two tables, yes two. The owner, chief, hostess, waitress, and cashier was this sweetheart of a woman named, Tsuchiya. We ordered shrimp tempura with soba noodles.
The soba noodles and shrimp tempura were delicious.
I waited for the food to cool down before I started to eat and I think Tsuchiya must have misunderstood my delay and brought us two forks. Although I politely declined the forks (I am getting darn good if I don’t say so myself) I did ask for some napkins, Tsuchiya brought us this.
This is not the only restaurant in which we were given Kleenex instead of napkins. Is this a Japanese thing? Are we supposed to use our shirtsleeves instead?
We finished our meal and then it was off to continue our adventure but not before we said one more goodbye to this delightful lady.
Tsuchiya bidding us goodbye from her charming restauarnt.
Our next stop was the Open Air Museum. This is a must-see stop if you visit Hakone. In addition to a plethora of outdoor sculptures it has a Picasso pavilion with an incredible collection of the master’s works. They have some of his early works when you can see his amazing talent rather than his cubism phase when his works looked like he had a visual deficit.
The focal point of the outdoor exhibits is a bronze by Auguste Rodin of the French author Honoré de Balzac.
Rodin was able to make a superb recreation to honor Honoré and I was able to cut off part of his head.
That was supposed to be the final stop of our tour but Hiro wanted to show us an exhibit of 500 stone buddhas. It was a little out of the way so he needed to check with Yoshi and before you knew it we were on our way. At the entrance we took walking sticks. I was exhausted at this point but made my way throughout the exhibit while Hiro was bouncing around effortlessly. I asked him how old he was and found out he is only 2 years younger than I am. Hiro was definitely a colorful guy. He had no problems asking complete strangers if he could take a picture of them with us.
This couple asked Hiro if he would take their picture which he did and next thing we knew he had them posing with us.This woman was visiting with her husband and their daughters from Hong Kong and Hiro asked if he could take their picture with us. He took several. Here is one with just Patrice and the women.
I would love to write more but it’s dinner time and you know what a feast that is. Tomorrow we are off to Kyoto.
Before I tell you about today let me catch you up on last night. We had a very enjoyable food tour (Arigato Travel) with a local guide from the city of Ottawa. In what part of Japan is that located you might ask, the part that is in Canada. Our guide Hanna, was not Japanese but she was very nice and quite knowledgeable about the local cuisine and culture. It was nice getting the insights from a native English speaking person who has lived here for 6 years.
This was a good food tour but not our favorite (Lance and Tasting Round Town in Memphis remains our favorite by far). We visited 5 establishments (that seems the usual number for most food tours and we have been on a lot). At the first stop we had appetizers. See below.
Front row (L to R) Pork and Lotus Root, Back Row Pickled Ginger and Rice Cake Mochi.
The mochi was okay but the others were not to my liking. I had a draft beer (yes, I had a beer) and it was very good. We then moved on to another restaurant for the main course. This place was much better. We had a number of small dishes. See below.
The potato salad was my favorite but the cucumbers (in the back), and the chicken with Japanese tartar-like sauce (not shown) were also very good. The main dish is in the picture below.Can you guess what it is?
At the next restaurant we enjoyed some udon noodles followed by a stop for some sake at a different location. I would describe the sake as “Yuck”.
I didn’t realize sake was clear but I guess it makes sense since it is made from fermented rice.
We finished the tour with a dessert of a waffle in the shape of a fish filled with custard. It was delicious.
This morning we arranged for our luggage to be shipped to Kyoto and took some clothes in our backpacks to wear for the two nights we will spend in Hakone. Our experience with trains paid off today as we walked to Tokyo Station and found our train very quickly. This was one of the so-called bullet trains and that is a very appropriate description. These babies move and if you are sitting in a window seat when you pass a train going the opposite direction it is quite the thrill. The trains have a reputation of running very efficiently and today was no exception. We left on time and reached every stop on schedule. It took us 33 minutes to go about 50 miles from Tokyo to our destination, Odawara (stopping twice to board new passengers and let some off). At the Odawara station we were greeted by our driver who was waiting for us when we arrived in the lobby (a major improvement from our experience at the Tokyo Haneda Airport). The drive from the station to our hotel took about 50 minutes. The driver was great and we didn’t die, both good outcomes. We didn’t get to see much of Hakone on the ride but what we did see was very beautiful. Upon arrival at the Ten-Yu hotel we were informed that we couldn’t check in for 3 hours. In retrospect it would have been nice to spend more time in Tokyo instead of hanging out at the hotel waiting to check into our room.
Making the wait a little more pleasant was Patrice’s discovery of these lovely machines with a sign saying “Ask the front desk for a free token”.
Seventeen Ice: Each machine has 17 choices of ice cream.
Luckily we were able to go to our room a bit earlier than the expected time of 3:00. We were checked in by a delightful young man named Ken who after having us sign some forms escorted us to our room. He told us that our luggage was already there. We pointed out that our luggage was right next to us which prompted him to give us a very endearing laugh of slight embarrassment. Ken then brought us to the room and proceeded to explain all the amenities. See below.
Here is the entryway. Please remove your shoes and only wear sandals, socks or your bare feet in the room.Room view: Notice the tatami mats that traditionally were made of rice straw and meant for sleeping. As you can see we opted for a room with a bed. The mats are the reason for the “No Shoes” rule.PJs in Large, Medium, and Small. Hmmm, three sets of pajamas, are they supplying a guest? Robes and socks that can be worn in the public baths and elsewhere in the hotel including the restaurant. Private bath on your balcony if you are too shy to use the public bath.
Patrice and I opted for the public baths called “Onsen”. We got prepared but neither of us was clear if we wore the socks to the bath, or sandals, or both. The women’s Onsen is on the same floor as our room so I suggested that Patrice go into the bath and ask the correct protocol. Before Patrice was able to enter the spa we met a hotel employee named, Hideki. Unfortunately he didn’t speak English but he seemed to understand our question. He explained everything we needed to know at about a 1,000 words per minute but I can’t give you an exact count since it was all in Japanese. Hideki followed us to our room but never stopped talking (seemingly not even to breathe). When we opened the room door he pointed to the sandals and then escorted us back to the women’s Onsen. Lots of arigatos (thank yous) and bowing followed and we parted ways. Patrice went inside the Onsen and I got on the elevator. Upon reaching the lobby I made a right turn and waiting for me outside the Men’s Onsen was Hideki. He restarted his Japanese instructions and explained where I should put my sandals. Then he showed me the lockers for my belongings, where to get a towel, and where to enter the spa. This entire time he spoke continuously in Japanese and the weird thing was that I understood everything he was telling me. I got into the water and it was indeed very hot (40 degrees Celsius according to the thermometer) and so very relaxing. I also experienced the outside spa and dipped my toes into the cold tub.
Patrice and I are now back in the room telling each other about our experiences which were very similar. Neither one of us want to move. Yesterday we spent the day taking a train to another town and walking for hours. Then returned to Tokyo and took a walking food tour. Today we took a short train ride, a rather long car ride and then a spa experience beyond belief. No question which we prefer. We already informed our children we won’t be leaving this hotel until we have spent all their inheritance.
Robert Reiss Travel Blog and Other Ramblings 