The Essence of Japan (continued)
With our train not due to depart until 1:58pm, we have 1¼-hours in which to find something to eat before assembling again. We find
a café that has coffee and sandwiches, and Jeanette chooses an egg sandwich, and David a club sandwich (left). Both turn out to be
more food that we anticipated, so we share them, then rendezvous with Akiko at 1:30pm.
Today’s Hikari Bullet Train ride fromKyoto to Mishima will take just under two hours to cover the 470-kilometres. We are seated in carriage 14, seats 20 A and B (right), on
the right side of a 2-3 format, with 20C not occupied. These seats are at the front of the carriage where there is slightly less
leg room, but it is still a comfortable way to travel on this fast, smooth train. Our route is mostly through urban areas, with a
few paddy fields. At one point there is a clear blue sky, but it is cloudy on the last part of the journey and when we arrive at Mishima at
3:55pm.
We are met by our bus which has a lady driver, who takes us to the Sengokuhara Prince Hotel at Hakone. The route to the hotel is through
well-wooded countryside and includes a steep winding road over the Hakone Pass, which our driver tackles with ease. Our route also
passes Lake Ashi, which we will be visiting tomorrow.
Our hotel is in an isolated, rural location in this mountain area, and is attached
to a golf course. Our room has a balcony (left) that overlooks part of the golf course and also has a view of the surrounding
hills (right), although these are topped with cloud on our arrival. The room’s entrance is between a wash basin area and a bathroom
with toilet. The bedroom is at a slightly lower level, accessed down two steps in an area that is dangerously dark. The supplied cups
are square, very small, and have no handles, so the supplied kettle is not very useful.
Our pre-booked tempura meals are in a nearby restaurant, and a couple of shuttle buses come for the group at 6pm. We share a table
for four with Paul and Lesley. We both have the shrimp tempura, Jeanette with rice, and David with noodles. The servings are not huge,
but there is enough to eat. Back at the hotel we purchase some small chocolates to have with our late night hot drinks
The Hakone area where we have stayed overnight extends across the collapsed remains of a huge volcano, which was active until 3,000-4,000
years ago. This has left a legacy of hot springs and steam vents, and this morning the bus takes us to the fascinating Owaku-dani (“great
boiling valley”) which is an area of sulphurous steam vents. It is dry, cloudy and cool as we explore the area, where there seems
to be one large steam vent and several smaller ones. We explore this popular tourist area for an hour, with its scenic views, volcanic
activity, and kuro-tamago ("black eggs") - a local specialty of eggs hard-boiled in the hot springs. The eggs turn black and
smell slightly sulphuric; eating one is said to add seven years to your life, but we do not test this theory
At about 10:15am, we board a cable car (strictly speaking, a funitel), known as the Hakone Ropeway which takes us down to Lake
Ashi, a descent from 1,044-metres at Owaeudani station to 740-metres at Togendai station. We cover the 2.5-kilometres in about 15
minutes, in a car that holds 18 passengers, so our group is split into two. There are lovely views over this tree-covered area, and
of Lake Ashi below us, but there are no sightings of Mount Fuji due to the heavy clouds.
The ‘pirate ship’ that is to transfer us across
Lake Ashi is named “Royal II”, and is a reproduction of an 18th-century French navy flagship. The cruise lasts about 25-minutes before
we disembark at Hakonemachi-ko. We sit upstairs to view the passing scenery, but it is quite cool as we traverse this long, narrow,
crater lake
After disembarkation at 11:15am, the bus departs at 11:40am for Tokyo. The cloud is now very low and, as we drive along, the weather
worsens, with a period when we are in fog, and then there is heavy rain and some hail. Akiko gets information that the poor weather
has now caused the operation of the ropeway to be suspended. To add to the difficulty for the driver, the road descends through a
series of bends. However, on reaching a motorway, the clouds clear low on the left and we have a view of Mount Fuji. When we reach
a motorway service area, the rain eases and we spend an hour here for our lunch.
On resuming the drive to Tokyo at 1:30pm, the
sun appears and it remains sunny for the remainder of the day. Our route in Tokyo is over the Rainbow Bridge to a parking area at
Aqua City - a very large shopping mall next to the Odaiba Seaside Park. But it is the views over Tokyo Bay that is the attraction
for us. These views include the bridge, the spectacular skyline with its skyscrapers, and even a version of the Statue of Liberty.
It is now extremely hot and we are glad to be back in the air-conditioned bus at 3pm
Our last night in Japan is spent at the Crowne Plaza Hotel near Narita Airport. Next morning, we are up at 5:30am for a shower
and mugs of tea, and the final packing for our journey home. After deciding that we have sufficient time for a quick breakfast, we
go to the Ceres Café on the 1st Floor and just have juice and some fruit, and this gives us time to get the 6:50am shuttle bus
to the airport’s Terminal 1. We are pleasantly surprised to find that the shuttle bus is a full-sized coach and the driver stows our
bags in the luggage compartment.
Jeanette manages to spend almost the remainder of our Yen on chocolates, and we are left with just ¥115 in coins. Boarding is announced
at 9:45am and we bypass long queues at Gate 17. On the airbridge, we fork left to the door for Business Class on this Boeing 777-300,
which is the same aircraft that we flew out on. Our extremely comfortable seats (4A & C) are on the left of a 2-2-2 formation.
After glasses of Bucks Fizz, the aircraft backs-off at 10:21am and takes-off at 10:43am. It is another sunny morning in Tokyo and
we have good views of the paddy fields and coast near the city, although it is hazy in the distance. Despite the haze, we get views
of Tokyo on the left as the Boeing makes a right turn to cross the Sea of Japan, and subsequently, cross some snow-covered mountains
in Russia. The Boeing lands at Amsterdam at 2:49pm, a flight time of 11 hours, 6 minutes for the 6,015 miles travelled. The flight
from Amsterdam to Birmingham is by Carpatair; we are home by 7:30pm.
A most enjoyable holiday that lived up to its title of ‘Essence
of Japan’ in that we experienced several aspects of this most interesting country. We were vey impressed with the cleanliness (hardly
any litter), and the politeness and pleasantness of the Japanese people that we met. Their friendliness was evident in many ways,
including the help that was given to us on several occasions, by complete strangers.