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Old 26 Oct 19, 01:54 PM  
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Gr8WideSomewher
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When you gachapon a star: Tokyo Disney and Japan 2019 - Day 6

Hello friends,

Well it's weeing it down out there, and I've been a good girl and gone to yoga already, so I thought I'd reward myself with a bit of me time. And by me time I mean trippie time!

Day 6: Day trip to Hakone, bathing in wine and no sight of Mount Fuji

We were once again holidaying like pros on Day 6 as we woke up at 6:45. To be fair we’d gotten to bed early the night before, but I was still exhausted. We had super quick showers and were out of the hotel by 7:30. Bex was very worried about catching the train, and looked slightly murderous when I confessed I’d forgotten my sunglasses and would have to go back up to the room to get them. Gulp.

We caught the Ginza line then the Maranouchi line to Shinjuku, where we had been the previous evening and where were getting the train to Hakone from. It actually wasn’t a difficult journey, and we were there in plenty of time.

We walked to the Ogakyu line to catch the romance car train to Hakone. There was another train option, but the romance car supposedly gives you better views. You pass Mount Fuji on the way to Hakone and we were hoping to see it through the window.

The train was due to leave at 8:31 so we had a bit of time to pick up some breakfast from a station cafe. All the best food in Japan is to be found in train stations and this was no exception. There were several options for breakfast cafes even in this one small area of the station. We picked up two iced coffees, a melon bread and a banana caramel muffin, which came to 1270 yen (£9.10). We ate these on the train after it left and they were both delicious!




We found our seats in the carriage and sat down - the seats were big with loads of legroom and little tray tables. There was also free wifi - it was very comfy, and infinitely superior to travelling in trains in this country!

By 9:00 we were still going through Tokyo - gosh it’s big.



At 9.30 we started seeing rice paddies and we travelled through this for a long time. Bex went to the train bathroom and wanted it recorded here that it was extremely gross! I cannot personally attest.




Did we see Mt Fuji? No, no we did not. A thick layer of cloud hung over us for the entire day and we didn’t even catch a glimpse. Though Bex did try to convince herself she could see a vague outline on the way back to Tokyo, but since I couldn’t see what she was talking about and we’d lost track of what side of the train the mountain was even supposed to be on by that time, it’s debatable to say the least.

We finally arrived in Hakone at 10:13. Confession time, this day is going to be fairly short of photos and detail as well. We were on the move for a lot of the day (we took various forms of transport around the area to explore the scenery) and it was hard to keep track, and although we took some photos the weather was so unrelentingly awful that most of them were unusable.

Our train ticket to Hakone (not including the Romance Car) included transport all around the area, including buses, boats, trams etc and using the ticket was really straightforward. The forms of transport and sights make up a kind of loop, which we decided to go clockwise round.

First we had to catch a bus from beside the train station.




The bus was extremely crowded, but it was aimed at tourists so the stop announcements were nice and clear with some in English, and the driver was very patient with all the people who kept getting on with the wrong kind of ticket and off at the wrong stops.

My seat was right at the front and had no legroom whatsoever. My knees were up round my ears and I think there was an audible pop when I eventually squeezed myself out of it.


Everyone followed these rules to the letter.

The bus took us up into the hills on very meandering paths, mostly covered over by trees and took 30-40 minutes.




We went over the hills and then came down the other side to a big lake, from where we would catch a boat to the next scenic spot. We took a walk by the lake first, round to a torii gate, where a large number of people were queuing to get a picture.





We joined the queue and watched everyone very politely taking pictures of each other one by one. We queued for about 30 minutes (it was quite a few people to get through) and then a spectacularly rude Italian family got to the front of the queue and began to take more pictures of themselves than I took the entire day. First each of the four daughters had to have an extended photoshoot, with multiple poses, then the mum and the dad, then the boyfriend, then smaller groups, then the whole family in every damn combination you could think of. It was so amazingly selfish that we couldn’t believe they weren’t embarrassed. After they’d been going for about 15 minutes (the most anyone else had taken was 5) I told them they were being ridiculous and to look at how many people were in the line. Of course I got no response to this except rudeness, but I’m glad I said something.

We decided to be as quick and considerate as possible taking our picture - that would show em!


Ha ha the Italian family stood there for 15 minutes but we ended up getting the boat going by and looking super awesome in the one minute it took to get these pictures! Karma, benches!


In the end we queued for about 45 minutes just to get a couple of pictures, but we look cute so who cares! We took a walk through another part of the forest afterwards, wanting to make sure the Italian family took the boat before us, so we wouldn't have to watch them posing for photos for any longer.




We took some pictures of the cedar forest, but didn't go too far as we didn't want to miss the next boat. Then we wandered back to the harbour to catch the boat that left at 12:40.




We caught the boat from the pier, and luckily the Italian family were nowhere in sight. Perhaps one of them had caught sight of her reflection in the lake’s surface and was in the process of building a shrine to it. Or maybe they fell into a volcano, who knows? Yes, I am bitter. Bex and I went to the top of the boat, even though it was a bit chilly, and enjoyed a very pretty boat ride.







As you can see, Mt Fuji was once again nowhere to be seen. In fact the cloud went almost down to the water’s edge in some places.



Very atmospheric, but not quite what we’d come for.





The next stage of the trip was supposed to be a cable car, but if you read Day 5 you will remember that that part of the route had been cancelled due to ‘volcanic activity causing a small earthquake’. Which is fine. Volcanic activity and small earthquakes are no big deal. In fact I find the UK’s lack of volcanic activity and small earthquakes a bit boring.

Due to the (gulp) volcanic activity, we caught a replacement bus to the next stop along the route, which meant another winding drive up a hill.



We joined up with the bit of the cable car we were allowed to take after about half an hour. It turned out this wasn't actually a cable car, more like a tram. This part of the trip wasn’t particularly spectacular because the tracks were surrounded by trees, so there wasn't really much to look at.




It took about 15 minutes to get the tram down the hill. When we arrived at the next stop we weren’t really sure where to go next. We had completed the route which took about four hours and had planned to go to a swimming pool and hot spring for the rest of the afternoon, but we weren’t exactly sure where to catch the bus from.



We were also extremely hot and somewhat fed up at this point. However, we eventually found the right bus and, almost by accident, got off at the right stop. It was about 15:00 at this point.

The pool was far in a way the best part of the day. I had been doubtful about sitting in hot water when it was already so hot and clammy, and there were some moments where I was too hot, but mostly it was really fun. My notes are a bit sketchy at this point because obviously I didn’t have my notebook with me..

The pool seemed to be aimed as much at children as it was at adults, so there were multiple pools and even a few slides. They were all warm, with the really warm ones being outside.



There weren’t too many people around and the outside pools in particular were very peaceful with a gorgeous view down into the valley.


Sorry most of these pictures are of me - Bex didn't really want pics of her in a swimming costume in the trippie, which is fair.

I was only able to sit fully in the water for a few minutes at a time though, as they were very hot. There was also a slide outdoors (though we didn't try that), with caves underneath it which had aquariums lining the walls. These were lovely.




The inside pools were somewhat wacky, but really fun. We tried a red wine bath, a coffee bath, a sake bath and a green tea bath.





The sake bath was the nicest one and the coffee one was absolutely vile. There was also an almond milk bath but it looked so gross that neither of us would try it. There was also an aroma room.

We also paid an extra 100 yen (70p) to do the fish doctor experience, which is where you put your feet in the water and the little fishies come and nibble at your toes and get rid of the dead skin. This was weird and very ticklish, but once we got over the weirdness it was actually really nice!

All in all the experience was really nice. They could maybe do with a cool option, I resembled a lobster by the end, and some of the baths were extremely weird, but the view from the outdoor pools was wonderful and it was a very relaxing way to finish off the day. It cost 4300 yen (£30.80) for the two of us. We got a discount with the Hakone card.

After that we caught the bus directly back to Hakone Yumoto station and bought tickets for the romance car back to Tokyo.



The station had pretty tiles in the floor.

We picked up a snack and some drinks from a bakery before leaving (we hadn’t eaten since breakfast and it was getting on for 18:00) which we ate on the train.



I forgot to take a picture of this before I started eating because it was sooooo good! Japanese baking kills it again! It was a soft, sweet cranberry roll with cream cheese in the middle which cost 230 yen (£1.60). We shared one between two, which in hindsight was a big mistake!

Before leaving all of the seats on the train automatically revolved round so that they were facing the direction of travel! I love Japan. Other than that the journey home was uneventful, and we arrived back at Shinjuku Station at 10 past 8.

We were again starving by this point and took the underground to Tokyo Station. As I said, the best food in Japan is often to be found in the train stations, and there is a whole mini street called Ramen Street in Tokyo Station, which we’d heard was amazing.

Of course, it wasn’t easy to find (those train stations can be absolute mazes, and of course Google maps can tell you if you're going in the right direction, but not if you’re on the right floor), but we eventually arrived in an area we decided must be it. There was certainly a whole street’s worth of restaurants to choose from, most of which had long queues out the door, even now at quarter to 9.

We chose a place basically at random and were shown to a tiny, cramped table in tiny, cramped restaurant. We both ordered pork and egg with udon noodles, which cost 1200 yen (£8.60).

The food came quickly and what can I say? It was the best food we’d had on the trip so far, and was some of the best overall.



The miso soup was rich and clear, the pork was juicy and the egg was salty and flavoursome. It doesn’t look pretty, but man it was good!

I pretty much wolfed mine down and, though I tried my best not to be a messy tourist, I of course got a few splashes down my front. Oh well, shows I was enjoying it I guess. Bex ate hers more slowly and a little more neatly.

Afterward we got a bit lost again and ended up going out of the wrong exit. It was easier for G-maps to find us when we were above ground and outside of the building so we eventually found our hotel. The station was about 15 minutes walk away, which obviously isn't far, but seemed like it after such a long day, so we stopped at a corner shop near the hotel to buy some pudding as a reward. Bex bought a mint kit kat (expensive and yummy) and I bought a Japanese pear iced lolly (cheap and yummy).



We got back to the hotel about 22:30. We messed around for a bit and then eventually turned out the lights at 23:00. The step count was 15,908.

Well that's it for now, chums. Could be a bit of a wait for the next one as I haven't started writing it yet and it was an extremely long day.

Thanks for reading!
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Old 30 Oct 19, 05:51 AM  
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Nesbits
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I want to go to Japan, what a day you had. Apart from the annoying Italian family 😡 you should have photobombed them and done Brucey poses, or at least heckled, why do some think they are more important than others.

Really great trippie x
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Old 4 Jan 20, 06:49 PM  
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Gr8WideSomewher
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Originally Posted by Nesbits View Post
I want to go to Japan, what a day you had. Apart from the annoying Italian family 😡 you should have photobombed them and done Brucey poses, or at least heckled, why do some think they are more important than others.

Really great trippie x
Hahaha I probably would have done - Bex keeps me from offending too many people

I would highly recommend Japan! I hope this trippie is showing that it's not really as prohibitively expensive as a lot of people think it is, and wow it's beautiful.
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Old 27 Jan 20, 05:37 PM  
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Lovely scenery, but those rude Italians 😡
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Old 2 Feb 20, 08:01 PM  
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Originally Posted by rachelhelen82 View Post
Lovely scenery, but those rude Italians 😡
They were the worst! But definitely didn't ruin a wonderful day. My prescription for dealing with the stress of selfish selfie-takers is apparently to spend the next few hours bathing in wine
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Old 3 Feb 20, 06:05 PM  
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I’m getting some amazing ideas of what to do, thank you so much! Looks like another amazing day.
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Old 9 Feb 20, 04:19 PM  
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Gr8WideSomewher
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Originally Posted by Tinkermom View Post
I’m getting some amazing ideas of what to do, thank you so much! Looks like another amazing day.
It was a busy one, but really fantastic. Thanks for reading
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Old 9 Apr 20, 09:44 PM  
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Seems a lovely day in spite of Fuji-San being shy. Shame about the Italians but yes, you got the best photo!
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Old 13 Apr 20, 06:50 PM  
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Originally Posted by Gill H View Post
Seems a lovely day in spite of Fuji-San being shy. Shame about the Italians but yes, you got the best photo!
One day we'll go back and get to see Mt Fuji! I hope you get to see it on your holiday
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