Going to Hakone

We are now comfortably settled in our new and last room of this long sojourn. Jonni drove us to the station this morning. It was tough saying good-bye. I feel we became fast friends in a short amount of time. He really appreciated the sea glass from our beach and immediately displayed it on his Japanese fountain. Perfect place. We would love to have him come visit us, but I doubt that will happen. He likes the world coming to his door.  And his door is very, very nice indeed.

Got into Kyoto with plenty of time to get our tickets for the Shinkensan train (our last bullet ride) and pick up a snack for the two hour ride. The highlight of the journey was when we passed Mt. Fujiyama. Stunning view and I was able to get a decent shot traveling at over 200mph. Fortunately, the sun was out. It has been mostly cloudy and pretty cold all day. 

Our stop was Odawara where we transferred to a bus that took us up the mountain to Hakone. The bus drops you pretty much in front of the hotel. Arrived at around 2pm. This place is large. It is one of the oldest hotels in Japan, founded in 1878. Some of the famous guests have been, Charlie Chaplin, Nehru, Helen Keller, John Lennon, just to name a few. We checked in and were shown to our room. I was pretty disappointed because we had a great view of the air conditioning units. Asked to get the room changed for a higher level. The bellhop said she would look into it while we had lunch.

Went downstairs to the Grill Room for lunch. The food was good but very expensive. We are going to try to eat outside the hotel from now on. Our room does come with breakfast, so that'll be ok. Stopped by the desk after lunch. There was another room available but in another part of the hotel. Fine. The view is wonderful and the price is a lot cheaper - guessing John Lennon didn't stay in this room. So far, so good. It is quiet, which is good, considering there are many, many people here. Two big groups came in just after us.

Having gotten the room situation settled, we ventured outside to see what the area had to offer. Passed a couple of little restaurants. Unfortunately, the sushi place we read about is closed for the two nights we are here. There is a tempura place and a traditional Japanese restaurant that we will go to tonight. Nothing fancy and we talked them into swapping the pork portion to tofu.

Went down to the train station to see if we could exchange the Hakone Pass we bought for tues and weds to weds and thurs - it was just too late and cold to do anything this afternoon. Plus the ticket would be good for part of the train ride home. But unfortunately, they would not exchange the ticket. Guess we lost out on that. Didn't think it through enough. Just can't think of everything. Tomorrow we will have to take advantage of the one day we have. Really hope it warms up a bit or at least the sun stays out. There are hot springs in the hotel. In the event it is too nasty to brave the elements, we can enjoy the pools.

Right now it is looking to be a very nice sunset. The clouds have broken up and the last bit of sun is shining on the mountain tops. I hope that is a promising sign.  Till tomorrow.

Next time... Hakone Free Pass