Japan: Day 20 — Hakone ...

At the Hakone Open-Air Museum

I was the first one awake in my dorm room. I had a morning coffee in the kitchen and then took my first onsen, which is a Japanese hot spring. There were two private onsens in the hostel and they were open 24 hours. One pool was bigger than the other and I opted to try the room with the big onsen first. It was wonderful! I floated for some time before showering and heading upstairs to see if anyone else was awake.

Jess and I had talked about going to the Hakone Open-Air Museum together. The place opened at 9am and we wanted to be the first ones in. The museum was a 15-minute walk up the road and what an amazing place it was! It exceeded my expectations!

The grounds were huge! It took us almost three hours to get through the entire museum. Besides the outdoor art, there was a Picasso room that never seemed to end. Most of the work was stuff that was Picasso inspired but there were some awesome pieces of work in there!

And just when we thought the tour was over, we found ourselves in another room with interactive art. One could stand on a box and move their body which would be mimicked by different figures on a huge screen in front of you. When one stepped off the box and got back on, the figure would change. They had six different figures and Jess and I were in stitches trying them all out!

The Hakone Open-Air Museum

Another fun thing was a screen that changed colors and shapes as you changed your voice. Jess started beatboxing! Ha! It made the screen look very cool! We had a good laugh and spent quite a bit of time in that room.

After buying a few things in the souvenir shop, we made our way back to the hostel. Jess had a train to catch early that afternoon. The dorm room was empty when I returned and I wondered who would show up that day.

The skies were blue and after having a bite to eat and a beer at the hostel, I headed out to do some hiking. I wanted to climb the mountain I could see from my room as it was within walking distance from the guesthouse. It was a three-hour hike, reaching the peak at 924m and an extremely steep climb.

The map of the character 大 (dà)

On the 16^th of August, there was a festival in Japan where they burned different characters into the mountains. This particular mountain, Mt. Myojogatake, had the character 大 (dà) burned into the mountain. I reached the character and thought it was neat that there was a map showing the exact measurements of the character and how to walk around it.

The sun was scorching hot and there was no escape so I continued on up to the peak. There was no sign to celebrate your success, nor was there much of view. The trail was muddy and slippery on the way up and I was worried about sliding my way back down the mountain. The trail was also dense with greenery so it was dark and there were a lot of mosquitoes. Most of my images were blurry because of the darkness. The air had a lot of smoke in it which must have been the volcanic gases coming from the nearby volcano. I wondered if it was safe breathing it in. The trails near the volcano had been closed due to too much volcanic activity.

I returned to the hostel covered in mud and sweat. Thankfully they had a hose so I could clean myself off. I grabbed a towel and headed directly for the onsen. I had bought enough food for lunch and dinner on the way home from the museum so I didn’t need to go anywhere else for the day.

During my lunch, I had met a girl in the kitchen named Zoe who had just finished bullet climbing Mt. Fuji. She was exhausted and wasn’t able to get into her room until 3pm. She was in my room and we fast became friends. She was from Ontario but lived in Vancouver for 12 years before moving to the  UAE for three years to teach English. She was on her way back to Vancouver. We had a lot to talk about as we shared very similar experiences in life.

We had dinner together and shared stories before going back to the room to sleep! I was exhausted after that hot afternoon hike and slept like a baby!

Japan: Day 19 — Osaka to Hakone ...

I was up early, of course, and went to the ATM to get prepared for Hakone. It seemed there wasn't going to be much in the way of convenience stores up there and the hostel’s website said they only accept cash as a form of payment.

Checkout at the Airbnb in Osaka wasn’t until noon but I wanted to get on my way. Something told me it was going to be a long trip with all the transfers I needed to make. I set off around 9:30am so that I could dawdle along the way, which I did. I took my time and carefully looked where I needed to go and if I wasn’t sure, I asked.

About to hop on the bullet train, Shinkansen 

I took a pink train line from Nippombashi station to Namba station. From there, I transferred trains again for Shin-Osaka station. When I got off the train, the sign for the bullet train, the Shinkansen, was right there. I bought a ticket for ¥12,000. This train stopped at most stations and would take three hours. I wasn’t too bothered as I couldn’t get into my room at the hostel until 3pm.

Upon arrival in Odawara, Google Maps suggested I take a bus. I noticed a Hakone tourist information center so I went there to find out. The lady spoke perfect English, gave me some maps and suggested taking the train. The ride would be one hour with one easy transfer.

The Hakone Tozan Train

The train ride up was awesome! I went via the Hakone Tozan Railway, which is the oldest mountain railway in Japan! The train zigzags its way up the mountain. It was a bit confusing at first as the train was moving forward and then after making a stop, we were moving backward and heading back to where we came from. The train makes a series of switchbacks to get up and down the mountain.

I arrived at the guesthouse, Hakone Tent, around 4pm and was shown around and taken to my room immediately. It was a nice looking place and kept quite clean. When I got to the futon style dorm room that slept six girls, there was an Aussie girl sprawled out on the floor. She had just come back from bullet climbing Mt. Fuji and was exhausted. Her name was Jess. She was a riot and we hit it off immediately. She was fresh out of high school and had been doing an internship in Japan for six months. She was on her way back home to start university.

One of two private onsens (hot spring) at Hakone Tent which I used at least twice each day!

After discussing Mt. Fuji and our time in Japan, I left her and went downstairs to inquire about the area. I needed food! This is when I met another Aussie girl named Demi who worked at the hostel. It was her day off. When I said I was going to look for a store to buy some cold beer and snacks, she asked if she could come with. She showed me around on the way to Lawson’s and gave me some great tips for Hakone! I stocked up on beer and snacks. I was going to treat myself and eat at the hostel that night. I hadn’t had much to eat and was ready for a proper meal.

I ordered an avocado and smoked salmon pizza and a Caesar salad from the guesthouse for ¥1,600. Both were delicious and I had half the pizza leftover for the next day! Demi, Jess, myself and another girl from Denmark sat around in the common room and drank beer, ate and shared stories. It was a very fun night and it was nice to finally meet some folk. We were in bed somewhat earlyish after too many laughs and beers!