Woke up at 6:30! Earlier and earlier every day. At some point, I noticed in my iPhone’s weather app that sunrise is at 5:30.. no wonder.

My back ached so much last night, I wondered if today would be the day that sleep did not regenerate me and my back would tell me it was just done with this trip, as happened after only 4 days in Barcelona almost a year ago. After all my physical therapy in March and April, though, my back is in much better shape this time around and I was able to stand and walk just fine this morning.

I spent some time deleting extraneous photos before packing up to leave Tokyo. I got dressed and took some photos of my listing and then walked to Ebisu Station with my bags. I’m still pleasantly surprised that I was able to get around everywhere I wanted in Tokyo using just the JR Pass and not needing to buy a local metro card!

I took the Yamanote line to Shinagawa Station and visited the JR office there to reserve a seat to Odawara on the shinkansen, or “bullet train”. So excited! My first ride would be short, and I would later be taking much longer rides to Osaka and coming back from Kyoto.

I looked in a very busy station shop for a bento box for breakfast, and they all seemed to have meat in them. Outside the shop was a deli counter, and I got an egg sandwich to eat on the train. It was only a 27-minute train ride to cover the distance that would take an hour and 15 minutes by car. The shinkansen have been running in Japan since 1964, and I can’t help but wonder why the U.S. doesn’t have bullet trains, for example between Northern and Southern California.

I was aiming to arrive in Odawara at 10:00, and I did. However, it would take me another full hour to take care of business at the station before venturing out for the day. I would be spending today and tomorrow in Hakone, a mountain town known for its onsen (hot springs) and which has a transportation circuit that includes a railway, cable car, tram, and a boat built to resemble an English man-of-war — clearly, the circuit is for tourists, and I was totally OK with this!

I would be spending the night in a ryokan, the only night on my trip not in an Airbnb. A ryokan is a traditional Japanese inn in which guests stay in a room with a futon and tatami mats and a table where both dinner and breakfast are served. The one I’d booked in Gora, about halfway around the circuit, was less traditional in that there are a few floors of rooms, so it’s more reminiscent of a hotel than an inn, and meals are served in a common area. The more traditional features of Gora Tensui include wearing a yukata on the premises, a lighter version of a kimono; dinner being kaiseki, a multi-course meal; and on-site onsen.

Since I was spending the night and touring both before and after, I needed to stash the majority of my stuff in a locker and only bring with me what I needed at the ryokan and was willing to carry for two days. The lockers on the main floor and inside the station were either in use or not big enough.

I waited in line to buy the Hakone Free Pass, which is not free but costs ¥ 4,000 JPY, or about $36.50 USD. This covers fare on all the transportation modes plus offers small discounts at some of the sights along the way. And like the Japan Rail Pass, it’s really nice to show-and-go, rather than figure out how much you owe, get out the correct amount, and buy a new ticket for each leg of the journey.

I asked about additional lockers and was directed down two escalators to the outside of the station, but still set back from the street, where I found three banks of lockers in three different sizes.

My carry-on suitcase held my toiletries, clothes, shoes, and electronics. The backpack I carried was mostly for use on airplanes, with my travel pillows and snacks (and some small souvenirs I’d been acquiring along the way…). For today and tomorrow, I would need my backpack to carry my toiletries and a change of clothes, which required me to open both bags in front of the locker and do a lot of moving stuff around! I considered bringing my laptop, but it made the backpack too heavy and I substituted my iPad.

Once repacked, I was able to fit the carry-on and the previous contents of the backpack inside the medium size locker for ¥500. There was no way to indicate that I would need it for a second day, and I didn’t know what else to do but pay the first ¥ 500 and figure the rest out tomorrow.

Right. 11:00 now. Check-in at Gora Tensui is scheduled in advance and mine was at 16:30, so five-and-a-half hours to explore.

When doing my research in Portland, I bookmarked a very helpful Frommer’s guide to following the Hakone circuit, and this morning I’d saved it for offline viewing (has my planning juju returned??). The first optionally recommended stop before beginning the journey to and in Hakone was Odawara Castle. A castle in Japan? Sure. Plus I would get to see just a bit of Odawara rather than it being merely a gateway to Hakone.

The 10-minute walk from the station felt a bit longer, and I supposed I was anxious to get to Hakone. The grounds leading up to the castle were pretty, with a bright red bridge over a pond and some flower gardens. Several stairs led up to a large plaza, with the majestic castle sitting up even higher in the back. It seems what makes a Japanese castle is a building in tiers, each with arched roofs. I didn’t know what I was expecting, and it made me wonder about the definition of “castle”, which I’d only ever previously thought of as a European building of stone with turrets. (Looking it up in Wikipedia now, the definition for Medieval structures in Europe is “private fortified residence”, whereas in Japan the fortification was meant to protect strategic sites rather than a home.)

The plaza was filled with schoolkids, and a fee was required to visit the balcony of the castle, on which I could see plenty of other tourists. I took some photos of the castle and of some monkeys outside the Odawara Zoo, decided I was content with what I’d seen, and walked back to the station.

I thought better of just hoping my stuff would be alright in the locker for two days and read the signs above the lockers to better understand the policies. I was relieved to see that the lockers could be used for 3 days and that the pay screen would request the additional fee once I’d entered my PIN to open the locker and retrieve my belongings (not to mention that the signs explaining this were in English).

I was running low on the cash I’d retrieved from the first ATM three days ago and tried three different ATMs in the station, none of which accept foreign cards.

It was noon as I boarded the Odakyu train from Odawara to Hakone-Yumoto Station, where I transferred to the Hakone-Tozan Railway, a quaint three-car train that travels upward through forested land via switchbacks, where it briefly reverses course in order to keep going forward.

Per the guide, I made my lunch stop in Miyanoshita. The station appeared to be in the middle of nowhere, and I was concerned for a moment that the guide’s author had a different idea of “best place for lunch” than I did. Then I crossed to the other side of the train tracks and found a paved path heading down a slope toward town, with some cute cafes along the way. A large sign at the top mapped out eateries in town, and I decided a Japanese pub sounded interesting.

I walked down the slope and then along the main road until I hit a signal and turned left onto another main road that climbed slightly upward. From there, a path went up to the left that would fit one car only and seemed to be mostly for pedestrians. Up into the hills I walked among modest homes, wondering how a restaurant could be located up here.

It felt like a bit of a miracle when I actually found the pub, given that there was no sign outside, and steps led down from the narrow road to what looked like a home. Only the pedestal sign in front of the door designated it as a business. I went in and took off my shoes as instructed to be seated. I scanned the lunch menu, and there were basically two meals available to order; one looked like meat and the other was ¥ 2,000. I did not have enough cash for a meal, let alone a drink. Knowing it was a long shot, I asked if they accept credit cards, and they did not. I apologized to the two women behind the counter and put my shoes back on. After walking in the heat, I really wanted to drink the glass of water one of them had already served me and asked if that was OK. They gestured ‘yes’ and were very nice in general. I walked back out and up the steps and as I planned my next move, one of the women came out and brought the pedestal back inside, apologizing to me again that I couldn’t stay, and removing any trace of the restaurant inside.

I walked back down the hill toward the main roads, stopping along the way to consult another of the large signs mapping out the town’s businesses (which was hard to read at first because it was presented from a completely different perspective than the one by the station, so I guess the You Are Here is prioritized). I must have walked past the noodle house I’d chosen as I made it almost back to the path leading up to the train. I reversed course and found a barely-marked entryway to some steps. A sandwich board sign listed some dishes in Japanese and their prices, and I hoped I might find an English menu inside.

I followed the steps leading up and inside and found an older couple who spoke maybe three English words but they did have a laminated piece of paper with English translations of their dishes. I ordered cold soba noodles in broth with tofu and took a seat at a table on the floor, which is not so good for my back but I wasn’t there long. The dish was served quickly, and I ate it up as it was perfect on this warm day. The bill was ¥700, which I had in coins but I really needed to find an ATM soon!

I made my way back to the station and took the next train. I did not get off at Kowakidani Station, where a bus would have taken me to a quirky-sounding spa resort: they have onsen pools with green tea, coffee, sake, and wine. Not only is it a family-friendly joint (I’m not so into sharing space with lots of children), but the afternoon was moving right along.

I disembarked at Chokoku-no-Mori, the penultimate stop before Gora. The attraction here is the Hakone Open-Air Museum, a quick walk from the train station. The pass offers a ¥200 discount, leaving ¥1,400 to enter, which I didn’t have, and…. they do not accept credit cards. The ticket booth attendant was kind and spoke enough English to direct me to an ATM near the train station. Yay!

It was a 7-minute round trip walk to get the cash. A tour bus was just arriving when I came back, and I was thankfully able to get a ticket before they crowded the booth. While still at the train station, I had checked the schedule to Gora. I needed to be on the 16:16 train, and it was 14:45, which I was figured was probably the right amount of time to spend here.

I rode down an escalator with a glass roof and walked through a dark tunnel, which led to the sunny main plaza overlooking the expansive grounds. Sculptures of all different kinds dotted the plaza and the landscape beyond. I’m not much of an art person, but this was cool.

 

My favorite feature of the park wasn’t any of the sculptures. About 2/3 of the way around the looping path is a curvilinear 40°C (104°F) foot bath, with about 10 seats spaced apart. Verrrrrrry nice, especially after lots of walking with a backpack on.

Across from the foot bath was a cylindrical tower with stained glass walls. I went inside but did not have time to climb the spiral staircase to the top for the view. I essentially had to run-walk through the rest of the path in order to catch the train!

Gora Tensui, the ryokan, is about a 3-minute walk from Gora Station. I arrived with 5 minutes to spare before my check-in time. The building doesn’t look like much from the outside, but the lobby is gorgeous. Directly ahead of the entry are long, wide, lighted steps leading up to a bar with a view of Mt. Hakone behind it and in front of it…. a foot bath 🙂

I was asked to take a seat on a couch, and while I waited an American family of three arrived. A staff member directed them to sit down as well and then began helping them with their check-in.

I am aware how petty it sounds, but I absolutely loathe being made to wait longer than someone behind me in line. I was irked at the clerk for not keeping better track of their arriving guests, and I was irked at the family for not drawing his attention to me and noting that I’d arrived before them.

I didn’t have to wait much longer before another staff member brought forms to me and knelt down to go over them with me. First, she asked me to sign a slip of paper. I don’t sign anything without understanding what I’m agreeing to, but it didn’t go well when I asked about that, between her limited English and, I presume, confusion as to why I would even ask. What I gathered is I was simply saying I stayed there.

I experienced a similar feeling as I’d had in Costa Rica with respect to how they (don’t) schedule things: wow, my Americanness is really showing.

Next, she went over a list of things I needed to know for my stay, reading the bullet points to me and punctuating each one with an adorable “hai”. (This literally translates as “yes” but, in this context at least, is used differently than in English.) Dinner is at 18:00, hai. Checkout is at 11:00, hai.

Next up I got to choose my yukata. I knew from having messaged my Airbnb host in Tokyo before I booked to ask about his shower that my height in cm is ~177, which helped when I was directed to the stack for those who are 170 and taller. I chose a teal yukata with a floral pattern.

Next, the staff woman showed me to my room on the fourth floor. At the time I booked, I wanted to choose a Japanese-style room, with tatami mats and a futon bed and Japanese decor, but the only non-smoking room available was Western-style, with two double beds. This bummed me out, but I wasn’t willing to compromise and stay in a smoking room. The Western room also had a glass-walled bathroom with a deep round bathtub made of stone for soaking, so that went a long way to being happy with my choice.

The room I was shown to was not at all the one I’d seen in the photos when I booked. It was much smaller, and there was no stone bathtub. With some difficulty, using Google Translate and loading up the Gora Tensui site on my phone so I could point to the photo of the room I’d been anticipating, I communicated to the clerk that I was in the wrong room.

She went to consult their records, and while I waited I looked up my own. The description in my confirmation email more or less matched the room I was in. It included a “hot water pot”, which at the time of receiving the confirmation I’d taken to mean the stone bathtub but which now appeared to be the kettle for tea or coffee. It seemed I had somehow ended up not booking the room that I thought I had.

As I looked around, I realized that I’d been caught up in the wrongness and hadn’t noticed the rightness — I was in a Japanese-style non-smoking room! The clerk returned and said I was in the right room and that I could switch but I would need to pay more. I told her I must have misunderstood and thanked her.

After she left, I re-read my confirmation email and noted that it said “Modern Japanese/Western-style Room”. A-ha! The description did not exactly match the room I was in after all since it was not Western. Even though I was very happy with my room, I  I sent an email to the staff to make my point anyway.

As I write this: A) I’m not proud of being, again, petty, and B) I’m certain now that I was in the room that I’d booked and that Western-style referred to the bathroom as it had a tiled, walk-in rain shower.

I got settled and changed into my yukata. I found a basket of obi in the room’s closet; that’s the sash to tie around the waist. I looked up how to wear and tie the yukata properly and then noticed that the welcome papers I had been given included a printout of the same website I’d consulted 🙂

As I got my stuff situated in the tatami area at the foot of the bed, I realized that I am in love with tatami mats. They feel absolutely delicious on the feet.

On a shelf near the door were two sizes of bamboo flip-flops to choose from, and I put on the large ones. I took the elevator back down to the lobby, welcome drink coupon in hand, and stepped up to the bar. Oops! A staff member ran after me and asked me to please take off the flip-flops before stepping up to the bar 😬. I guess I was thinking I’d already taken off my shoes and these were like slippers?

I took a seat in one of the chairs without legs and stepped into the footbath, which I’d expected to be warm after the one I’d soaked in at the park but it was cool instead. I asked what types of drinks were available and went for a foofy sparkling passionfruit “wine” that was as delicious as I wanted it to be.

The staff had received my email and a gentleman came behind the bar to discuss my room situation with me. I let him know there was no more situation and everything was fine. I imagine in Japanese culture “I just wanted you to know that I was right that the room is not the one I booked” is not a reason to get a hold of service staff.

I finished my drink at 18:00 and walked a few steps over to the entrance to the dining room. I was shown to a table that was encased in chest-high walls. All of the tables were partitioned in some way for privacy from other guests.

The egg sandwich and soba noodles were all I’d eaten today, so the foofy wine was going to my head and, though I could have had any drink I wanted with dinner, I opted for green tea and water only.

Kaiseki is a traditional Japanese multi-course meal. The dishes I was served in succession had some familiar ingredients and flavors and some I’d never encountered, so I didn’t always know what I was eating and anything the server told me that I didn’t already know I forgot quickly. I wish I could write here about each dish I was served; however, I took photos and otherwise enjoyed the moment rather than taking notes.

The flavors that were new to me were unusual, like a small square bite of something in the first dish that looked sweet but was actually savory. There were vegetables, tofu, miso soup, some gelatinous squares made of potato, a bowl of seaweed (eww, no, too slimy), congee with fresh wasabi for grating, and a dessert course with melon, mochi, and mango yogurt.

It was around the third course that I asked how many were to come, and I about died when the server said, “Oh, I don’t know, four or five?” There were actually six more. It was on the fifth course that I realized I should not have been finishing every bite of each course. Nine total! This dining experience, which took an hour and 45 minutes, was a bit overwhelming, which is not to say I didn’t enjoy it. I was thrilled.

I went to the front desk to schedule two appointments for the evening, one at 21:00 in the private onsen and one at 22:00 in the hot stone “bath”, actually a large, heated bed made of natural stone. Ganban’yoku is believed to have a detoxifying effect on the body and improve the circulatory system.

With an hour until the first appointment, I went up to my room, which I found to be cold. I inspected the appliance in the corner and found that it was a dehumidifier but was also blowing cold air like A/C. I’d also realized at some point during the day that I had left my iPhone wall charger in the locker at Odawara Station. This was not a dire situation as I had brought my Anker battery pack and a charger cable, which would most likely last me through tonight and tomorrow afternoon, but I would certainly prefer a wall charger. I don’t always think to ask for help in situations like this, but it did occur to me in this moment to ask the front desk if they might be able to remedy these two things.

First, though, I had a bit of an emergency brewing. I’ll omit the details, but let it suffice to say in this space that dinner went right through me. It all seemed so healthy! Perhaps it was so healthy my body wasn’t sure quite how to process it.

I went down to the front desk, which was really just a podium area of the lobby with two or three staff members, and though I was early for my soak, I was given a basket with a towel and the key.

One of the staff thankfully spoke enough English to help with both the dehumidifier and the charger. He said I could turn the dehumidifier off and he would also bring me a heater – super nice! As for the charger, my English-speaking friend was called away and asked the other two to help find it, but it proved to be one of those things that you just know is around here somewhere.

As my appointment time came and went, I tried to communicate to them that I’d be back after my soak, but they wanted me to sit and wait (which I now know from what I learned about Japanese culture during my whole stay is because they wanted to offer me the best service, i.e. complete my request). I tried again using Google Translate, and then they felt bad that I was missing part of my soak. Ah, language.

The two private onsen rooms were on the fourth floor near my room. To find my onsen room, I matched the kanji on the wooden handle attached to the key in my basket to the kanji on a sign outside the door. As I was struggling to figure out how the key worked in the door, my English-speaking staff friend arrived huffing and puffing and holding a phone charger for me! I asked, “Did you run up here?”, and he made a gesture with his arms to indicate that he flew. So adorable. I thanked him and he said he would leave the heater outside my room.

Having figured out the door, I entered into a tatami-matted changing room with a sink and place my yukata into a basket. From there, a glass door opened into a large tiled shower room, with one shower head at each end, plus soap and shampoo and a small stool in case seated showering is your jam.

The next door led out to a balcony with a sitting area and a rectangular wooden soaking tub, a dispenser pouring hot spring water from nearby Ōwakudani into the tub every five minutes or so. Though it was too dark to see well, I knew that the view was of the Hakone mountains that I’d seen from the bar. Instead, I saw a sprinkling of city lights in a small town. I got in the tub and never wanted to get out.

A clock in the changing room is visible from the tub, and I did eventually get out and towel off. Leaving the private onsen room, I saw the heater had been left just outside my room door as promised. I brought it inside and went down to return the basket, towel, and key as I’d been instructed. I was early to return and to begin my next appointment, so I took some photos of the beautiful lobby lighting and stargazer lilies and decorative parasol. I took note of the sign at the entry doors indicating that they would be locked at midnight to prevent guests from going outside due to the presence of wild boars 😳

My appointment time came and went and I was not shown to the hot stone room. It seemed that it was occupied by a guest who was not answering the door. It was the family that had checked in at the same time I did. The father knocked loudly on the door and said to the staff that their teenage son must have fallen asleep. I waited patiently, but the mother threw me some side-eye as if I was tapping my foot with my arms crossed. After 5 to 10 minutes, I was shown to a hot stone room that was not the one the son had been using, so I was confused about the delay. I suppose it was the distraction of a guest missing the end of their appointment time.

An older, non-English-speaking gentleman had shown me to the room and gestured toward a basket with a new yukata in it. I didn’t quite understand what I was to do and went back out to the lobby and caught my English-speaking friend for help (I suppose I should have gotten his name). He explained that the hot stone will generate sweat, so I should first change into the provided yukata and make sure to take breaks.

When he left the ante-room for changing, I found a very helpful sign in English reiterating what he’d told me. When I entered the stone room, I was to place my towel over the stone surface, lay face-down for 5 minutes, face-up for 10 minutes, and then take a break for 5 minutes, either through a door that goes outside or in the changing room where water was available, the drinking of which was encouraged.

Three cycles were recommended, but with the delay in getting started, I only had enough time for two, which was just fine. I definitely fell asleep while in the face-up position both times and found the experience thoroughly relaxing.

Once back in my room, it turned out that after a hot spring soak and hot stone nap, I had no need of a heater! I did unplug the dehumidifier/aircon, though.

I did some deleting of today’s photos and went out like a light at 12:30.