I can’t remember exactly how many trains we had to take, but it was not a short or easy journey to get to Hakone. We took several trains, then a bus (on the bus ride, we saw gorilla crossing signs – I tried to take a picture but the bus was moving too quickly). The bus dropped us off in Hakone, where we got some green tea ice cream (DELICIOUS!) and then hopped aboard a pirate ship…I’m not kidding…that took us to other side of the bay, from where we took a ski lift type ride from where we had to take a cable car to get to our Ryokan (The place we were staying – More on that later).
Got a little Captain in ya?
On the pirate ship is where we were planning to catch our glimpse of Mt. Fuji but unfortunately the weather had not cooperated with us, and it was extremely overcast. We did get lucky though, and the clouds parted just enough to get a quick view of it and a few pictures that you have to strain your eyes a bit to see, but hey, I’ll take it.
At the other end of the bay, we got on one of those closed compartments that rides on a cable up the side of a mountain. I’m not sure of the exact name of it but you see them at ski resorts all the time. On the ride, we hopped off at one of the stops to take a detour and see the Owakundani volcanic cauldron of steam. A lot of Japan is built on volcanic land, but this area was literally steaming. You could see the steam seep out of the land as we rode up.
Naturally, any place where the ground is literally steaming is a place that needs to be explored. There was a long walk up to a small cabin near the top. The farther up we got, the more the air smelled of sulfur. At the top, we discovered the small cabin was a place where they sold ‘black eggs’ or essentially eggs that they had bathed in the sulfuric hot springs so that their shells turned black. The belief was that if you eat an egg, you get seven years longevity. After observing the popularity of these eggs amongst the large volume of Japanese people around us, I concluded that some of these people must make the trek all the way up here periodically in an effort to improve their longevity.
After hopping back on the cable ride and a quick cable car ride later, we had a long walk and finally arrived at our Ryokan.
So a Ryokan is an accommodation facility which is imbued with the traditional culture of Japan. Our room had Tatami (straw mat) flooring and we had to leave our shoes at the door of it. They provided us with a typical Yukata (robe) which we wore to and from the Onsen which is essentially a public hot-spring bath where everyone gets naked and finally you sleep on a Futon put down directly on the Tatami floor. They also provide traditional Japanese dinner and breakfast the following morning.
When we first got into the room, I must have been quiet for a really long time because Lindsey inquired whether I was freaking out or not. I wasn’t freaking out but instead just taking it all in. The whole place was so curious to me. I couldn’t stop taking pictures. At the same time, it was very peaceful. We were in a very remote village (if you couldn’t tell by the number of forms of transportation we had to take to get there), and when we went and sat on our balcony, the only noises, besides the occasional other Ryokan guests walking by, were ones coming from the forest around us.
All Yukata'd out!
After dressing up in our yukata’s, we decided it was time to brave the Onsens. As I mentioned before, an Onsen is a natural hot spring sauna essentially, but there are a few rules. 1) Total nudity. No time to be bashful in this place. You had one towel you could use to cover yourself from where you had to undress to where you got into the Onsen and it was roughly the size of my forearm. 2) No tattoos. Apparently this is a policy that the Onsen’s have enacted to keep out the Japanese mafia. If the Japanese mafia started using an Onsen, it would quickly lose popularity amongst other patrons, and since there are so many alternatives available (the natural hot springs are generated from the volcanic land Japan is built on, so there are tons) it could quickly cause an Onsen to go out of business. 3) Apparently there is a certain way you are supposed to tie up your yukata. When Lindsey got out of the Onsen and was getting dressed, an old, naked Japanese woman ran at Lindsey in all her glory, to show her that she had put on her robe incorrectly. 4) You shower before you go in. At first I found this strange, since the idea of an Onsen is to be a bath, but once I got in and realized there doesn’t appear to be a drain anywhere, I probably wasn’t gonna be getting out of this thing a whole lot cleaner than I got in.
After our Onsen experience, one I am unlikely to ever repeat but glad I can check it off the list, we headed upstairs for dinner. We weren’t aware that we were supposed to wear our yukutas to dinner as well, and came in normal clothes. Considering we were the only English speaking people at the Ryokan, I think they forgave us for our ignorance.
Dinner was a large and eclectic mix of many different Japanese dishes. I couldn’t tell you what foods or animals I ate during that meal suffice to say I definitely ate a few things that still had eyes. When we retired back to our room, our beds had been rolled out on the tatami floor.
In Japan, there is the following proverb: “Go ni itte wa go ni shitagae” (literally, “When in a village, do as the villagers do”, which is equivalent to the English proverb, “When in Rome, do as the Romans do”) This was probably one of the more notable and profound portions of the trip for me since we came into contact with the traditions, culture, climate and customs of Japan, and we truly did as they did.
The next morning, we had our traditional Japanese breakfast, hopped back on the cable car and headed for Kyoto.
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