Resort House Zeppelin Ito

... br>While we were out Wendy had been in touch with JAL and Maria's luggage was finally on its way to Tokyo. We were told it had been unable to leave Beijing due to the bad weather brought on by a faux pas from the Beijing Weather Modification Office (although we discovered later it had inadvertently been sent to Kuala Lumpur - thanks Air China!). So, only two days late - it arrived by courier at around 11pm. Yay.

Today we had a great day exploring outside of Tokyo at the Hakone National Park. It is about 80 km outside of Tokyo. We took a bus to the park where we took the ropeway (gondola) up to the area where there are sulfur springs due to the volcanic activity in the area. We had beautiful views of Mt. Fuji, who had had her first snow the night before. Once we got to the area of the springs, our guide told ...

... 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 ...

... flowing down the mountain. We have fallen in live with this place already.

Feasting on a sumptuous meal of rice, noodles, vegies, soup and pork (oh you really have to come over here and try their tucker) at a local restaurant, we had a relaxing stroll soaking up the mountain air and scenery. After the frenetic few days in the bustling mayhem of Tokyo, we needed some quiet time and a chance to rest our bodies and minds. Arriving back at our lodgings we ...

... swoista gwarancja wierności podwładnych Szoguna. Stary checkpoint pokazuje jak przeprowadzana była kontrola i co robiono z osobami nielegalnie przekraczającymi granice.

Na drugą część doliny popłynęliśmy trochę kiczowatym „pirackim" statkiem. Z jeziora Ashi można podziwiać widok otaczających gór i powoli czuć mało przyjemną woń Owaku-dani czyli „doliny wielkiego wrzenia ...

... and they assured us we would be off the mountain by then so took them. It turned out later that the return reservation was more of a "suggestion" than anything else.

Meera and I arrived in Shinjuku, Tokyo to pick up our tickets and got on our full buses to Fuji 5th station at 7:30p on Saturday night. Along the way, I got to see fireworks and this mysterious line of lights going up into the sky that I later learned was the huts and climbers already on the ...

Five million hours and as many trains later, we finally arrived at dusk in the beautiful Hakone National Park (the site of Mount Fuji) where after taking in the breathtaking scenery we caught the local bus up the steep road to our guesthouse. Following the ‘no shoes inside’ rule, we were proudly given our guesthouse slippers, and shown our room: a traditional Japanese ryokan (beds = Tatami mats on the floor with a futon on top, surprisingly comfortable) with ...

... like the one they have in Hong Kong that takes you to the Peak) and then a quick interchange for the suspended rope way cable car ride. It was on the ropeway car ride that one can have a spectacular view of Mt.Fuji …… that is assuming the weather conditions are ...

... was early, there weren't really any gajin around yet. Shawn works near Tokyo Tower, so he showed me how to get there, then we stumbled into the Hispanic district. Yeah, I didn't know there was a Hispanic district in Tokyo either. There was a Mexican restaurant, which we just had to try, and it was ok. Better than what I would expect to find in Japan, but still nothing like San Antonio. It satisfied our Mexican craving, though. Finally, it was back to Nanasato and the ...

... Lake Ashi for a boat cruise. The cruise once again had views of Mt.Fuji and also a temple by the lake complete with torii on the water's edge.

People then had the option of taking the bus back to Tokyo which could take three hours or taking the Shinkansen fast train back to Tokyo. As we had a rail pass we took the train at no extra cost and were back in Tokyo within the hour. It was exciting to take our first ride on a Shinkansen!