Ebisuya Izunokuni

... an hour on this train we switched to another bound for Hakone-Yumoto. Once we arrived we changed to a bus heading for Moto-Hakone. The further along the journey we went the colder it got. Unfortunately the bus we got on took us on the indirect (and possibly less scenic) route (about 40 mins), but it was irrelevant as the weather was so bad you couldn't see much, certainly not Mt. Fuji!

Arriving at the ...

... taro root and soba noodles. It actually was all pretty good.
A shinkansen (bullet train) took us back to Tokyo. By this time I was just out of it, seeing as I still had not been able to sleep. Thankfully last night I got a full nights sleep so feel much better.
A reception and dinner last night wrapped it up at the hotel.
All the Japanese are so nice and polite. We are having a wonderful time!

... first stop on the bus – still going up the mountain – was Gora where we boarded the cable car which took us up at a very steep angle to the top of the mountain (or so we thought...). We then jumped on the first of two ropeways (a gondola hanging from a cable strung up to hundreds of feet above the ground). The views over the foothills, countryside and mountain peaks were just breathtaking. We caught our first glimpse of ...

... yet to come.

Arriving at a small place called Sengukara, so glad to off that bus, we had a minutes’ walk to the Fuji Hakone Youth Hostel. This place is wonderful. Greeted by a charming family we felt welcome and comfortable straight away. The same family run an equally charming guest house in the same location and the dear lady who runs the place gave us a quick guided tour of our lodgings and an introduction to the famous Hakone tourist loop. We ...

So yea! To summarize:
Walked about 10.2km downhill (which isn't so easy on rocky surface n stuff) from Station 5 of Mount Fuji to the bottom. Took about 5/6 hours but YAY! I used my hiking boots again (count so far: 3 times!) and it didn't feel too bad so I'm pretty glad, good chance to work off all the pocky!

Stayed in an epic Hotel Ohike which not ...

... szczególnie dla Japończyków, gdyż skorupka jajka wrzucona do gorącej siarkowej wody, barwi się na czarno. Myślę, że jest to jedna z niewielu miejsc na świecie, w którym odbywa się masowa konsumpcja jajek na twardo.

Onseny – gorące źródła wykorzystywane są w basenach gdzie nago kąpią się Japończycy (oddzielnie kobiety i mężczyźni). Na szczęście małe ryokany ...

... views of the surrounding mountains and forest. We decided to take advantage of the nearby village onsen (a communal outdoor hot spring bath, found everywhere in Japan). Upon finding slippers and a yukata (traditional Japanese gown) in our wardrobe we followed the cue of the other guests and got dressed. After receiving some confusing directions from the guesthouse manager (who spoke limited English, and in retrospect, did seem to be laughing at us) we soon became lost, dressed ...

... still too early to check-in. I then went out and explored the local hamlet and jumped onto the Tozan line train to go visit Gora, being the last stop that will connect me to the suspended cable car line, and seeMt.Fuji.

At Gora, it was a quick steep ride on the cable ...

... sunrise), walked around the stores.
6am: Began descending.
9 am: Arrived to the 5th station, left immediately. May drove back.
10am: Checked out the hotel and went to the “Jonathan”, another local family restaurant for a breakfast. Torrential rain outside put us down, we kind of gave up on some of sightseeing we could have done there.
11am-13pm: Spa and rest.
13:15pm: May drove to Kawaguchiko ...

... hurriedly to get on a soon-departing train. I waited around for an hour, then found an email cafe inside the station and sent an email to him. I also started looking online for places to stay. My friend's parents were going to let me stay with them tonight, however I didn't have the home phone number or address. I waited around for another hour, then decided I would just continue on to Kyoto (my destination for the next week anyways) and try to find something ...