Day 12 – Travel Day 3 – Hakone to Tokyo

18,740 steps, 14.89 km walked, 40 floors climbed, 4 layers of clothing, 1 windy hair monster, 2 more dogs in shirts and a LOT of different modes of transportation.

After our full feast of new foods last night, we woke up again this morning to a breakfast feast! Us westerners, not being very adventurous in our breakfast foods were a little hesitant at the 8 am breakfast, especially when we walked in to a number of unrecognisable courses, and quickly given a whole fish… scaled, but bones still in tact. I did not eat very much this morning… I am not a morning person, and a breakfast at all is hard to stomach, let alone the seafood feast we had prepared for us! We ate as much as we could as quickly as we could, because Amy had looked at the webcam of Mount Fuji this morning, and it was actually clear skies! Which only happens about 30 days out of the year – so we were eager to get up and to the mountain, just in case the cloud was on its way.

We decided on 9.30 down in the lobby so we could check out and go! With some members being a tad late, and trying to split payment of the Geisha 12 ways evenly – in cash – we didn’t get out until about 9.50. But off we went, the 12 of us, rugged up because it was 1 degree outside, heading down the street, with carry on luggage, heading towards the station. We were about 30 meters from the station when the group split, Anthony got distracted with some puzzle boxes in a shop front, so some members stayed with him, and the others went on to the station, but waited for the others to join.

Point is, a group of 12 is hard to keep track of, as well as keeping to a schedule! We joined up again and some decided to leave our bags in lockers at the station – because stuff carrying that around everywhere – so Sarma, Brad, Alysha, Drew and myself headed towards the lockers and the others kept going. With a little bit of deciphering Japanese text, we managed to lock our bags away with 400 yen for the day. We get going as the train is due any minute now! We all rush through the gates with our tickets out, and what do you know? Sarma is stuck on the other side frantically looking for his ticket. With most of the group on the train, Chris, Drew and myself stayed behind to make sure Sarma was okay. Looking through all his pockets, he finally admitted to himself that he was not holding his ticket. And after a little thinking, we worked out it must still be in his luggage! Which of course meant going back to the lockers, opening them, finding the ticket, putting everything back, repaying the day for the locker and making it back through the gates and onto the train. We’re all standing at the top of the stairs waiting, Sarma comes running through the gates. Train leaves. We’re left standing on the station. Sigh. Poor Sarma. I have to admit, the smaller group for just a little while was lovely! It wasn’t long until we were on a train and heading off after the others.

We were on a train that wasn’t too crowded, heading towards the Gora station. This was a train trip like I have ever experienced before. We basically zig zagged up the side of the mountain, instead of going around. We would stop periodically and the driver and the conductor would swap ends. The driver (or conductor, not sure who was who!) would change the direction of the tracks, and get back in, and then we would travel in the opposite direction, but heading up on a different line instead! It was interesting – for me anyway ha-ha. We went along seeing all the different sceneries in Hakone – very very different from Osaka, a little more like Kyoto. But it wasn’t long before we were at our stop and reunited with the other half of the group. 

After a very quick bite to eat we were headed to the cable car to take us part way up the mountain. This cable car was pretty interesting to look at itself! Being that it only ever goes up and down the same mountain, up and back on the same tracks – the slope of the mountain was actually build into the car! When you got in you were sitting flat, but all the chairs were staggered on the angle. So we got up to the stop part way up the mountain, and head towards where the rope way for the rest of the way up would start. But this section was closed, we found out, due to volcanic activity. We were under the impression that they had removed all warnings and closures a few days ago, but apparently the volcano still wants to play! So instead of the rope way we took a bus to the next part of rope way that was open. They ushered us onto buses, offering us pocket warmers on the way out (awesome invention by the way, but this should have been an indication of just how cold it was about to be! I stupidly only took one). On this short bus ride, we saw 2 things i’d never seen before. Firstly, steam was coming out of the ground at one point – very cool – and secondly, our first glimpse of Mount Fuji!

Now all that was left, was our short rope way trip down to the bottom of the mountain again, but with magnificent views of Fuji (many photos taken), down to the pirate ship. A group of 12 in a rope way car doesn’t sound like a good idea, but we were all well behaved, loud, but good! Plus we were all too busy trying to get photos of the mountain to really play any funny buggers. It was only a short trip down, roughly 10 – 15 minutes. But when we reached the bottom, it was time for the pirate ship! We were all quite excited about this, as we were able to see the ships on our way down, and they looked pretty badass! But alas, a queue. At least it gave me time to work out my pocket warmers. And maybe 25 minutes later we were heading towards the ships, and man were they impressive! They were huge! and elaborate. Very very cool experience. We all decided that inside was wimpy, so all stood out on the stern of the ship. It was, of course, now that the wind decided to show its mean mean head. And immediately my hair is blowing absolutely everywhere, to the point where I needed help to tame it! Hair was tied up, beanie pulled down, hood on the jacket was up and I ended up using my scarf as a face warmer! And would you believe, it was still cold! Absolutely freezing. But the trip was worth it! We were privileged enough to get some pretty impressive views of Mount Fuji while on the water! So maybe the cold was worth it. Maybe.

Once we pulled up to our stop, we headed over the road to search for food. Found a little ramen place and managed to score a table for our massive herd of tourists! Over lunch we had some sake (hot and cold) which warmed us up from the icy weather outside. Food was pretty good! And it was really the first time the groups have blended so much; it was nice to have a chat with some different people. Eager to keep going, we didn’t waste much time in shovelling the food down the throats and heading off again towards the Hakone shine. But of course, the group being the group, we are very easily distracted. We got part the way to the shrine when a small building that had some toilets; vending machines and a small skill tester distracted us. I stood in the sun for a while enjoying the warmth without the horrid wind, but noticed our bunch crowding around the skill tester. I come into a situation where Drew and Rob are trying to guess how to win this game and get the Goku statue! Completely ignoring the English instructions stuck to the front of the machine… I don’t know how, but Drew managed to win it and leave with a statue. But gave it to Anthony, since it was his dollar that went in.

With warm drinks and prize in hands, we finally set off towards the shrine. A short walk along the water, more and more skin being covered along the way, we get to the stairs leading up to the shrine. Now the original 6 have had some bad experiences with stairs, so we were moaning before we even started. So, hanging around the bottom of the stairs, we avoid going up for as long as possible. I look around for a quick Sarma check, and realise I’ve lost Drew this time! I look around for a bit and out he pops, with a massively long arrow in hand – I’ve been looking at these prayer arrows since new years (they have something to do with good luck for the year of the monkey 2016), but I’ve been talking myself out of getting one! It is a very pretty arrow. Not a weapon by any means! Extremely blunt at the end. But so beautiful! We tried to fix it securely to my backpack, somehow managed to do so, even with a good 2/3’s sticking out the top. I go to walk and soon realise that I will not be sneaking up on anyone today! The bells attached to the top are so loud! The group started using me as a beacon after awhile. Jingle jingle jingle. We walked through the shrine, took in all the beautiful sights, and headed back to the bus. It was time to finally get to our Tokyo accommodation!

A windy bendy bus trip, a 30 minute bullet train, and a 30 minute local train and we were on our way! Yay! We’re in Tokyo!! You could feel that the group was excited. It felt like a totally different group. Completely rejuvenated and full of energy. We found our hotel with very little trouble and started the very long process of checking in 6 pairs… I feel sorry for the staff everywhere we go! Oh and when it was our turn, they delivered us out Ghibli tickets that were sent here for us! Yay! We headed up to our rooms and wow. They are massive and beautiful! Very modern and are basically apartments instead of hotel rooms. So much room! A quick shower and unpacking later and we were off again. We just never stop… 

Nothing really interesting happened, but we explored our area a bit. Got some food (we had to split the group to get tables) and met up at an arcade. Spent way too much money. And now I’m here, trying to convince my eyes to stay open since it is 2am. I need sleep! We have a relaxed day tomorrow, full of shopping! Yay!