Another ropeway, you can see the steam rising from the top of the mountain here.
These are the volcanic vents. There’s a slight smell of sulfur, they recommend people with respiratory issues to stay clear.
Right about here the winds start howling and the ropeway car starts swaying. Everyone in the car goes quiet until we stop at the station.
At the top, there is a cafe that sells eggs boiled in the sulfur vents, which make the eggs turn black. Consuming these black eggs are said to extend your life by 7 years.
Here is where things get complicated. There is a sudden drop in temperature, the winds pick up and people are literally holding onto railings to hold steady. I abandon the plan to continue down the next ropeway to my final destination. As it was, you could hear the winds whistling through the rope way car on the way up. I call an Uber, which is called GO in Japan. I am freezing, the winds are crazy powerful. I ask where the taxi stand is and the guard throws up his arms forming a cross. No Taxi. I said I have reserved. He said bottom of the hill outside the gates, no taxi here. Mama Mia that was a steep hill. A notification in my phone pops up, contact your driver. This was the first time using the app, so I was trying to figure it out when the next notification came. Your driver has cancelled. I go back to the guard, I say how do I get down.
He says Ropeway.
Gah.
They are closing now and funneling everyone back to the rope ways. It is starting to get dark, the sun sets around 4;30 here in November. Another massive line, many younger people wearing t shirts and tank tops shivering. We finally make it back down.
It is now 5:30, my reservation for the onsen is 6:00. I contact them asking them to hold my reservation. They are held in blocks of 2 hours. I hear nothing back and frantically try to get back down to the Hakone Yumoto station where it’s just one stop away. Nothing is simple this evening, by the time we exit the ropeway, there is another train. It’s not an express, or a local but more of pokey tourist train that goes slowly so you can enjoy the view. It is stopped for a long time. I hear banging, as if they are making last minute repairs. The conductor is whistling, but being very thorough with his checks before finally heading off. Everyone is tired. Finally we make it to the last stop. It is now dark, and I’ve lost my orientation. How to get there quickly. I try the app again. It turns out, there is s perimeter set up around the train stations that do not allow the GO taxis to enter, so you have to make your way out of the zone before they will pick up.
I do that, I get picked up. The driver tells me since it’s a holiday the traffic is backed up 7 kilometers that I will be better off on the train., I say okay can you drive me there? My brain was resisting getting on another train and had officially checked out of problem solving. He was an older gentlemen, and started calling other cabs in the area to find out if other backroads would be less congested. He settled on a plan. He mentioned something about he would need to make one stop, no charge. I asked would this be shorter, he said the distance is very long but the time is short. I am grateful.
Then I am questioning this decision, what would come next is 40 minutes of twists and turns going down the mountain in pitch black. Then he stops on the side of the road, and we park for a bit. I am thinking he’s going to pick up another passenger, but no, we are just sitting in the dark on the side of the road.
Finally an incoming call, it’s strange I think he’s telling the dispatcher how he has planned to get to the station, there is an air of victory in the air. All this time, I am thinking, one stop on the next train and I will be there. We cross an over pass and you can see the traffic below, he starts driving in and out of parking lots to finally pull up to the Onsen. I am thinking, omg this lovely man. I said I must pay you, you have saved me, thank you Arigato. He is satisfied, and says no problem, already paid. The stop on the side of the road was to get to the price of the initial fare on his meter. have a good evening. Omg. I made it, an hour late but I’m there. Here there is another massive line ....
I pass the long line and hope my room is still available. It is, they are waiting for me. After the check in I am handed a rental towel and the option to rent a Yakata which is similar to a kimono. Then escorted to my private Onsen. This is the view from the bath
It is approximately 50 degrees outside. Immediately to the left, there is a faucet, handheld shower and bucket, with a shelf holding shampoo, conditioner and body wash. The instructions are to clean your body before entering the bath. The bath water is 40C around 111F. It is recommended you go slowly, dunking for increasingly more duration until you are accustomed to the temperature. I honestly thought I wouldn’t need two hours for this but managed to complete my visit in an hour and 15 minutes. I did not wash my hair, keeping it out of the mineral rich water that would dry it out. It was very relaxing.
Some things to know about the Onsen, they had a public bath in the same complex separated by sex. Hot and cold baths were available. You could alternate between a cold dunk and hot, I did this by getting out of the tub and using the handheld shower head. There are also rules about tattoos in the Onsen, they may not allow you into the public houses with one, or if it’s small enough and you can cover it with a bandaid they may let you in. It’s different at every establishment. It’s about the Yakuza, and while they understand that not everyone with a tattoo is a Yakuza there’s still an association.
The indoor dressing area is equipped with moisturizers, blow dryer, and a counter for your makeup. No pics, I forgot. onto the hotel Tensein at Odawara station. The Onsen has a shuttle that took the remaining of us to the train station, something didn’t look right, this was the same platform I arrived on the express from Tokyo and did not want to screw this up so late in the day. I used Google maps to give me directions to the platform. It sent me to a bus stop. I returned and was told the platform is actually split between lines and told where the train would be departing. There were only five of us on the platform, it is now close to 9pm. Amazingly the Hakone Freepass also covered the next stop. Yay!
The hotel had sent me an email with directions to the hotel in English and Japanese. The English instructions look to be converted to English using translator which was pretty useless. After 20 minutes of riding up and down escalators and looking at Google maps, I finally flagged down a young man who escorted me to the check in counter. I am sent back to my first day of kindergarten being led into unknown territory. The people are mostly very kind, and even if they can’t help you, you can tell they at least feel some empathy for your predicament. The hotel, can only be accessed from the fourth floor a building with no signage so it was complicated
The breakfast is included, and it is a feast which is good because I skipped dinner again the town is located close to the ocean, so there was a lot of fish grilled fillets and whole fish splayed between two skewers and roasted, cereals, pickled vegetables, pancakes, veggies I did not take my phone, but I enjoyed every bite it was really impressive before leaving I stop by the kitchen which is open to the serving area and in charades fashion tell the chef, everything was delicious he was beaming, it actually choked me up a bit I forgot what gratitude looked like he was so sweet
One thing is certain, after a victorious experience, I can count on a challenging one, there’s a rhythm to this Japan visit.
Achi next...
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