Blossom 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 ...

... has very friendly staff and lots of visitors from all over the world. After a short rest and a much needed shower, we found our way to a curry house and enjoyed the kind hospitality of the owner (and some yummy Japanese style curries). Our beds beckoned and we rested our travel weary bodies.

Tomorrow we check out some sights in Kyoto and are looking forward to the wealth of historic sites that Kyoto is home to.

Sayonara.

... 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 ...

... Przede wszystkich siedzi się na podłodze przy bardzo niskich stolikach, na małych poduszkach i obowiązkowo zarówno goście jak i obsługa chodzą bez butów (podobnie jak w ryokanie). Jedzenie tofu pałeczkami wciąż jest wyzwaniem (tofu jest bardzo miękkie), ale dawaliśmy radę. Stolik obok siedziała inna para, z którą wspólnie wznieśliśmy toast sake (bez stukania się kieliszkami) i w momencie kiedy pad ...

... its way up the mountain. The next 200m were the worst. Slow, cold, wet, pathetic, shivering, and blue-lipped we started talking about abandoning ship and set an abandonment time of 6:30am if we hadn’t reached the top (it was 6:00am and we were supposed to have been able to easily reach the summit an hour earlier – and would have if not for the crush of humanity). Then just when things seemed bleakest, we passed the 200m sign and things started ...

... the day’s adventures we just chilled out in the evening.


Rising early the next day, we were able to see the stunning Hakone in day light. After a breakfast of croissants, we caught the local train up the zigzag railway, which took us past the breath-taking scenery of the national park and up into the huge mountains. We then caught a cable-car over the serene Lake Ashi, the part of the journey where, if you are lucky you can see mount Fuji. Unfortunately ...

... 8211; 1) get nude 2) soap and rinse your whole body prior to entering the baths 3) slowly enter the hot spring 4) sit down and 5) enjoy. It is unforgivable to put your hand towel into the water so don’t do that, and thus I folded it and placed it on my head, just ...

... we headed down to the lake for a similar view of pitched darkness. The village itself was very quiet with hardly any bars or entertainment so there wasn't much to do other than surf the net for a bit and then hit the sack. In the morning I'd set my alarm for 5am and jumped up as enthusiastically as at Xmas day morning to find that the entire town was blanketed in fog. Not to worry the sun would soon burn through all ...

We had breakfast at the hotel and were then picked up for our tour to Mt.Fuji. The first stop was at a service station on the way down to Mount Fuji to allow people to get a drink and stretch their legs. As it was such a clear day you could see the peak of Mt.Fuji from the service station.

A few minutes later we were on our way to the viewing area on Mt.Fuji. Due to snow we went to the second level from the bottom but it still had ...