Day 350: Exploring Hakone via Bus, Boat, Ropeway, Bus and Taxi — Hot Spring Bath at the Ryokan
We have a two night stay at the Yama No Chaya ryokan so today was our one full day in the Hakone area.
There weren’t really any feasible exercise options around here so I stayed on my futon lined up with Willa, James and Margaret, in the dark, reading and relaxing until around 8:00am. Luxury!
We woke to the news that after all that letter-writing, Willa’s class had actually gotten out for Christmas break on Thursday, not Friday, so no one would receive their replies until after the break. All that work was for….nothin. Willa didn’t seem to mind too much. I actually think it will be better for them to get the letters a week before she arrives back at school.
We did some school in our room. I set up a “store” for the kids as a math and “into finance” exercise. I sold games, postcards, a watch and — the most expensive and coveted item: my phone. I gave them some US cash and coins for their “Christmas shopping.” Both kids took the same approach — right away throwing nearly all of their money at the phone. Before the purchase was complete I questioned whether they had other people to shop for and they backed off the purchase and ended up getting several less expensive items. Several good lessons learned here.
At one point James stopped the game and made this profound statement: “There are good things and bad things about paying for things. The bad thing is that you don’t have the money any more. But the pro is that you’ve got the thing.”
Exactly.
After school we headed out to explore Lake Ashi. Last night Cheryl, our host at the ryokan gave us a plan that we tried to follow, exploring the area by making a big clockwise circle starting with a local bus from near the ryokan.
We made a harrowing 7 minute walk down a windy road with an 18-inch shoulder to the bus stop. Then we took a twisty uphill ride in a packed bus to the edge of the lake. We grabbed a couple vending machine coffees (doubled as a pocket hand warmer!) and a grape Fanta for kid energy / motivation / reward.
It was a 10 – 15 minute walk to the Hakone Shrine. There was a big line of people waiting in line to do the traditional entry.
We retraced our steps back down the hill and along the south edge of the lake, then caught a pretend pirate ship over to the north side of the lake. It was a pleasant 25 minute ride but the low grey clouds hampered the views. James and Willa read their Kindles or argued over seats for most of the trip. Don’t think either looked out the window one time.
We got off the boat and onto the Hakone Ropeway (gondola) that carried us east over steaming sulfur volcanic vents — very much like the “craters of the moon” geothermal field experience in Taupo, New Zealand. At one point we were completely enveloped by the foggy steam. It smelled like sulfur / rotten eggs.
The maps show that there is a second ropeway all the way to Gora but it was under construction so we took another bus. Our original plan was to finish our day at the open air museum but the dropping temps, drizzly weather, tired kids and realization that we had to transfer to another bus to get to the museum had us yearning for our cozy ryokan. So we pulled the chute in Gora and grabbed a 20 minute taxi back to the hotel.
The most memorable part of our day came at 5pm when we were escorted in our robes to the private hot spring bath area we had reserved. No bathing suits allowed!
There was a heated bathroom / prep area with a foot massager, sink, hotel bathroom amenities and baskets for robes and personal items. Then you walk outside — like, full on wintertime outdoors — and there are four little showers where you do a full body and hair wash.
And then you get in a steaming natural hot spring bath that’s the size of a large jacuzzi. It felt awesome. The kids were in their happy place — in and out of a private hot tub with mom and dad, plus four faucets with round wooden buckets to fill with either cold or hot water and pour on themselves. Oh, and we were all completely naked.
Clean, refreshed and relaxed we walked back to the room but first stopped at the bar for a whiskey highball. We let the kids grab some coins in the room and get a fizzy fruit drink from the vending machine. We were all in heaven.
Then we had our multi-course dinner! The preparation and flavors are definitely different from what we’re used to but the food here is pretty good. The best part of the meal is admiring the care that goes into the prep and serving of each course. We limited the kids menu tonight but sadly still wasted a lot of their food. They have been really brave recently but most of what’s served was just a little too out there for them.
After dinner the staff transformed the room from dining mode to sleeping mode. Margaret read The Hobbit, the kids went to sleep and then Margaret and I went Christmas shopping for our Godchildren. Thank you Amazon!
Tokyo tomorrow!
MISC:
Willa’s obsession with Harry Potter is showing no limit. She’s just re-started the 7-book series for a THIRD time.
