Monday 16 May 2016
Hakone, Japan
Hakone Day 1 and the Ryokan experience
- Last day in capsule hotel and last onsen in the morning of course
- Left Shinjuku station for Hakone. Purchased a 2 day Hakone Free Pass in Shinjuku which gives you the cost of getting from Tokyo to the mountainous region of Hakone, and then unlimited transport around Hakone (which proved essential later) all in for only €40.
Great value considering buying all the tickets alone would set me back about €100+
- Main reason to go to Hakone was to experience staying in a traditional Japanese inn (a Ryokan), and sample the REAL hot spring onsens. The area is a hive of volcanic activity so the smell of sulfur fills the air (and the onsen water!)
- Donned my kataka (male-summer-kimono) and enjoyed a superb Kaiseki (multi-course meal) with Japanese music playing in the background. And a bottle of warm sake of course. Superb and the outdoor onsen with the steam rising into a moonlit night made it nigh on perfect.
- Hakone itself is a beautiful mountainous area which normally has excellent views of Fuji-san, but as luck would have it the weather took a turn for the worse, and clouds barred my views (although I did have a pretty wicked view from the plane when I arrived on Friday). Alas Fuji will have to be for another time.
- Did a quick tour of Hakone earlier in the day (pics will tell the story)... luckily I made the most of my time as the weather was turning bad the next day...