Day 5: Shinkansen, Hakone, Ryokan and Hakone Ropeway


It was not raining when we walked the hundred or so metres to our subway station on our way to Hakone.  We were hoping that this portended well for the next two days since rain was predicted.  As it turned out it was not to be so.   

Our little station near the Ryokan
I wanted to see how long it took for us to get from the apartment to the Shinkansen (Bullet train) so that we had some idea of the timing for the trip to Kyoto given we will have a very early start on Friday .  It all went quite smoothly.  The train came on time and we quickly found our way to the Chuo rapid line. The train quickly got us to Tokyo Station and about 45 minutes later we had found our entry to the Shinkansen.  Given we are heading off on Friday for Kyoto a bit after 5:30am that should give us some leeway in case of packed trains.  Our destination today was Odawara Station where we would disembark and then get a local train to the Hakone area where were staying a traditional Japanese Inn (Ryokan).  

Our Ryokan
The Shinkansen is most impressive to ride in.  It is very fast and rides quite well.  The seats have lots  of leg room and width and certainly more than the TGV and Eurostar. Like the TGV and Eurostar they are very long by NZ standards. The trip took us just over half an hour compared to about 80 minutes by a competitor rail company.  For the most part we travelled through the suburbs of Tokyo although by the time we got to what seemed to be the outskirts of the city we were in Odawara. 

The funicular
The local train we took to get to our Ryokan was much slower by comparison.  After arriving at Hakone-Yumoto we changed again onto an even smaller train that would take us to our Ryokan called Ichinoyu Hakone. According to the blurb this inn has been here since about 1630 -so a long history.  We left our bag at the Ryokan and then ventured back up the path to  meet the train for a trip to Mt Hakone which is a volcanically active area. By the time we left on the train it was raining steadily. The track is a switch back which climbs from close to sea level to almost 700 metres at its terminus.  The service is really good  going almost every 12 minutes.  The passengers were 95% tourists - mostly Japanese but including quite a number of non-Japanese people. 

At the terminus, Gora, we got on a funicular to go part of the way to the summit of Mt Hakone.  The cable car is but one part of the journey, the next part was on a gondola (called a Ropeway here).  It was raining steadily and shortly after getting on the Ropeway, all views disappeared as we were enveloped by cloud.  As that happened the English commentary spoke of the wonderful views to be seen of Mt Fuji  – as this was definitely not the case,  it provided great amusement for our fellow passengers.  The cloud did clear as we approached the summit and below us was a volcanically active area where there had apparently been a small eruption in 2015.  It looked quite spectacular. Unfortunately with all the rain it was almost impossible to get a shot of this impressive sight.
Our room. We slept on the floor

Our intention had been to take a cruise on Lake Ashinoko but it was miserable outside and there were issues of getting back to our Ryokan in in time, so we turned around and went back.
In our room at the Ryokan  there were tatami mats and a low table where one could sit and have a cup of tea.  We were also supplied with gowns (informal kimonos) which we could wear at any time including at dinner and breakfast.  We weren’t quite brave enough to put  them on for dinner, but by breakfast time we decided to fully embrace the experience and wore them as did  a few of the other guests.  Sleeping was on a futon (a thin mattress) which we  laid out on the floor. 

However before sleep was dinner.  There was no choice in the menu as it was a traditional Japanese meal.  I think the picture tells most of the story.  The main was a hot pot where the meat and vegetables were all cooked together and once cooked to satisfaction there were a couple of sauces to put over them.  Before that we were served a number of small dishes such as salmon with a panko crust.  It looked a huge amount of food but remarkably we managed to polish it off.  The food was very light and we did not feel full at the end. 

Our room had a private hot pool (onsen) and before going to bed we soaked ourselves to a prune like consistency. 

The futon was not very thick and I thought I would have problems sleeping but remarkably I awoke only once and had a superb sleep completely surprising myself.  Perhaps it was the long relaxing soak. Or it was sound of the water going over the rapids outside our room.

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