We arose bright and early for our departure from Tokyo. After breakfast, our tour guide met us to take us to the shinkansen (bullet train). She was a little grumpy because Mr. O’Brien was running late and “the shinkansen waits for no one.”
Fortunately, we caught the train with ten minutes to spare. The ride to Hakone and Mount Fuji took only half an hour. Despite the tremendous speeds, the ride was so smooth and quiet that if it were not for the landscape flying by, one might think the train was not moving at all.
Hakone station is a very modern and clean place surrounded by beautiful Japanese mountains. The rugged landscape and greenery reminded some of us of scenes from Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. We all felt very relaxed to be out of the bustle of Tokyo and into a more natural environment.
We were met at the station by a small bus. Ms. Tebbutt relayed information about Mount Fuji and the surrounding area from our tour guide as we drove up towards the mountain. Jono and Axel entertained us on the microphone while Sam told us what the big chimney said to the little chimney.
A typhoon passed near Japan yesterday which gave us all the rain in Tokyo. Evidently, it was not very nice at Mount Fuji. Today, though, the typhoon had passed and in doing so had also blown out all of the bad weather. Consequently, we had one of the most beautiful days for viewing Mount Fuji. We could see its entire symmetrical shape, right up to the crater at its top. Our guide told us we were very lucky to have such a view.
We drove to the highest point on the mountain, Stage 5. From here, mountain climbers can trek to the summit, but only during the months of July and August. We spent some time wandering around the Mount Fuji gift shop and gazing at the awesome giant looming above us. (We learned that in the indigenous Shinto religion, Mount Fuji was one of the most important gods- standing high above its base yet still far from its summit, it wasn’t hard to understand why.)
After our trip up Mount Fuji, we returned to our bus for a ride down to one of the surrounding lakes. We enjoyed a tasty lunch overlooking the lake and then took a cable car up one of the surrounding mountains for a look at some sulphur pits and hot springs. After the cable car, we took a cruise across the lake on a crazily painted giant pirate ship. We all agreed that our tour around Mount Fuji and the lake was very relaxing and enjoyable. Little were we to know that the day’s real fun was just beginning!
We arrived at our hotel around 4 pm. Most of us weren’t sure what to expect when Ms. Gracia told us that this would be traditional Japanese sleeping arrangements on tatami mats and futons. The rooms turned out to be amazing!
Upon entering, we had to take off our shoes and put on a pair of slippers. Ms. Gracia told us it was important that we leave our shoes at the entrance and then wear slippers everywhere else in the room. In the centre of the tatami room were small Japanese cakes on a low table with four legless chairs. The beautiful futons and doonas were tucked away in the closet to be taken out at bedtime. In the bathroom, there were special pink slippers to be worn while using the toilet- the normal white slippers had to stay out of the bathroom. The entire spotless room looked brand new. We were quite impressed.
After exploring the rooms, we changed into our cossies, put on the hotel gown and pants and walked out to the “Mediterranean Style Spa Theme Park.” None of us were quite sure what this spa/theme park would be like. It turned out to be awesome!
The first interesting aspect of the park was the wristband that functioned as electronic locker opener and cashless credit card for vending machines and the food court. Interestingly, only Charlie and Richard had a hard time figuring out how to use the wristband to open the lockers.
We dropped our shoes off in our lockers and headed in. The initial room held a giant spa with three separate hot tub islands. We splashed around in the warm water and then headed outside to the cave spa and water slides. None of us had been on a warm water slide before! We then broke into three groups to explore the rest of the spa/park.
Ms. Tebbutt’s group of Sam, Anthony, Tom and Alex B. started out with the imitation Turkish and Roman baths and moved on to the bath with salt imported from the Dead Sea. The bath was so salty that it was almost impossible to keep from floating to the top! They then slowly moved through the flavoured baths from the coffee spa to the tea spa to the sake spa and more.
Ms. Gracia’s group of Alex H., Natalia, Aisleen, Oilie and George relaxed in the rose scented spas and enjoyed the gentle massaging of the waterfalls. Alex thought the pampering should extend to a manicure! They were having such a nice time that they didn’t realise that there was a second outside level to the park until it was getting near closing time. They raced from spa to spa, staying one step ahead of the spa guards. They still managed to enjoy their time under the stars and they got to see the geyser shoot off just as they were leaving.
Mr. O’Brien’s group finished off with water slide races until the park closed at 6:45. Charles, Jono, Ben, Sam and Mr. O’Brien were quite quick until Richard perfected the back slide to become the undisputed sliding champion. Axel provided timing and place calling at the finish line.
As we were getting ready to leave, an orange full moon rose over the mountains. We all agreed that the spa/park has to be a stop on anyone’s tour of Japan.
After the spa, we headed down to dinner. We were amazed to find an all-you-can-eat buffet with Chinese, Japanese, French and American dishes as well as fresh vegetables and delicious fruit. Mr. O’Brien, a notorious hater of buffet meals, declared the food the tastiest buffet fare he had ever eaten (and proceeded to put away four platefuls). Anthony very kindly showed him how to make a perfect miso soup, starting with broth and adding fresh onions, tofu and small mushrooms. Oishi!
Although the day was very full, it was also quite relaxing. We enjoyed the new sites and the calm of Mount Fuji. Reflecting on our time so far, we all agreed that the trip up until now has exceeded anything we had hoped for.
We are looking forward to a new adventure in the ancient city of Kyoto tomorrow...
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