Hakone -- Seeking Mt. Fuji And A Bath

This is a large, luxury hotel in the modified style of a tradition Japanese mountain inn. There are both western style and Japanese style 'tatami' rooms. All rooms include fantastic views (the best rooms face the gardens), private large soaking tubs, the usual mini-frig and tea service and windows that open to let in the wonderful, clean mountain air.

The decor is heavily into beiges, pinks, and white. Perhaps a little too feminine for western men, but very comfortable and calming. My room was very large with two windows, two double beds and a bathroom that actually had three separate compartments. One each for bathtub, toilet, and sink. Full allotment of kimonos, bathing slippers, and soaps. Very few (and small) towels. Do not wear your kimono outside of your room unless you are going directly to one of the public bathing areas.

Remember that public bathing is separated by men and women and done naked. I have no photos for obvious reasons. There is a very large bathing spa with over 30 tubs of various sorts across the street from this hotel that has mixed bathing with swim suites required. The charge for that is about $20 per adult.

This is a very quiet hotel with no mood music. Foreign visitors talking loudly become very obvious in this hushed atmosphere. Please be quiet! This is a popular honeymoon hotel; so you will see many newly married (and embarrassed) couples.

It rained. The fog came down the mountains and filled the crater of the volcano. Beautiful but chilly and difficult for photography. From our arrival as we drove past Lake Ashi I knew that our chances of going out on the lake, doing the aerial ropeway up to Mt. Komagatake and seeing Mt. Fuji were very few indeed. We adapted to our situation and spent several hours bathing. In fact we bathed several different times in several different tubs and situations including a long soak in a tub full of saki, another of salt water and yet another of green tea. That's a lot of tea and saki!

Somewhere through our bathing trek I lost my swim suit and had to confine the rest of my bathing to either the women only tubs or the private bath in our room. We became very relaxed and wanted to sleep more than eat, but went ahead to a big Japanese dinner.

24 hours in this hotel is as good as a long weekend anywhere else on earth! Relax and heal your aches and pains. I think the saki soak did me a world of good.

Little English spoken at this hotel, but the staff are very kind. We got along with mime. No English stations on the television either. Didn't miss it.

In fine weather there is a great view of Mt. Fuji. Hotel website: www.hakoneho-kowakien.com/english

I am allergic to shellfish so I am always concerned when a hotel package includes meals with set menus. This is our Japanese dinner in the hotel, seated on mats on the floor, shoes left outside the door and all very nice, but a Fear Factor experience for someone allergic to shellfish.This long meal began with miso soup and the opportunity to buy wine and saki. Alcohol was not included in the cost of our meal. My husband made a blind stab at ordering a bottle of red wine and came out OK on the cost, about $30. After the soup came several sorts of sushi. Now I can (and do) eat raw fish, but we were very careful to try to determine which items had shellfish. Included was also a taste of absolutely raw beef. Fine, but I prefer a little fire under mine. We then had a roasted fish, served whole. A local speciality, it was fresh from Lake Ashi. Very fresh.

Our main course, cooked in front of us was beef cooked in a large pot with onions and other vegetables. I was absolutely itching to trim the fat off the meat prior to cooking, but had no chance. The quanity of fat on the beef made it very hard for us to eat. You can't trim meat when you only have chop sticks. Rather quickly we grew tired of sitting on the floor, backs ached and legs fell asleep. We aren't good at this! The wine made us warm and the smells of the cooking meat made us hungry.

A small serving of custard was presented to us. OK, so I thought. I can eat that. Husband (my official food taster) found a large shrimp in the custard. No custard for me!

We each had a small pot of white rice. I knew better than to put any sauce on it at all. Nothing! Other Americans were hunting for soy sauce and asking for it. Doctoring up your rice is not done in Japan and is considered quite an insult to your hosts.

Finally cooked, if briefly, the meal and onions were served. It wasn't cut up at all. We each were given a sizeable hunk. A luxury in Japan. My technique was far from skilled or beautiful as I tried to separate the meat from fat. Likely a Japanese 3 year old could do better! Some of the guests (all non-Japanese) went at the task bare handed.

There was a sweet for dessert. Frankly we nearly fled the dining room when the meal was over. Tired we were of sitting so and not eating much of what was served to us. I was disappointed in myself for not doing better with the food. It takes practice and patience. My advice is to avoid set menu meals that are done for tourists.

This is the breakfast buffet situation at our Hakone Hotel. As with many Japanese holiday hotels the breakfast buffet is included in the price of your room. In this hotel you are expected to serve yourself from a vast selection of Japanese and American/Europeon items from corn flakes to raw fish. The speciality of the house is 'black eggs' which are chicken eggs boiled in the local water which has a lot of sulfer and turns the shells black.

As in most Japanese hotels, the coffee is poor and likely Nescafe' instant. The tea is strong and either green or black. The bacon is always in the style and manner served in the UK and apparently undercooked to American tastes. The scrambled eggs were also underdone. I really like the noodles served cold for breakfast, the fruits and vegetables and the 'black' eggs. I avoided having anything that I could easily get at home or at a Denny's.

If you fancy Japanese seafood, you could have a real ball at this breakfast buffet. If you want eggs over easy and grits you are out of luck.

At check in you are given 'chits' for breakfast. Don't misplace them or you will have to pay for your meal. If you like real coffee, bring your own and do a French drip method in your room. I'm tired of Nescafe' instant!

Our plans to go out on Lake Ashi melted away in the rain; so we made a quick decision to visit this fine museum. Up the side of a mountain from the car park, there is an escalator for those who need help on the climb. Very fine works of art: the work of the Nihonga school. This is Japanese style painting of great richness of color and technique. The long history goes back to the Heian period (794-1185).

The collection includes scrolls, fans, doors, walls and screens. Most of the works are from modern artists.

The situation of the museum is beautiful. It boasts great views of Mt. Fugi from the galleries. Not for me! The fog hid the mountain. You might also find views of Lake Ashi. The museum shop sells all sorts of tradition Japanese drawing materials as well as fine gifts. The Mt. Fuji view gallery has a coffee and hot tea vending machine and many chairs so you can enjoy the view...on a clear day. Both levels of the museum are accessible to the handicapped as they have a chair lift on the stairs.

The situation is absolutely beautiful, but due to the limitations of the weather we spent our time ducking out of the wind, putting change into the vending machines for hot drinks and ice cream (no logic at all) and shopping. A retreat from the big cities for millions of Japanese Lake Ashi is a dedicated national park and conservation area. There are plenty of boats, both large and small to rent. Many of the larger boats/ships sell all day tours with lunch. The lake is large enough that high winds can easily cause dangerous conditions; so we missed our chance for a nice afternoon on the water.

There are many family sorts of activites that are popular on fine days including swan boats for children, small amusement parks, child oriented museums and vast numbers of places to buy holiday food items. Popcorn, candies, ice creams, cakes and sweet drinks. We really liked the ice creams in the vending machines and even tried to 'vendo' hot french fries. They were good!

The roads were good (drive on the left) and the traffic not so bad, but it was foul weather. Very crowded during fine weather in July and August.

One major reason for staying in this luxury hotel is bathing in the sulfurous water, the other is to visit the grand Japanese gardens owned by the hotel. They are absolutely outstanding! As a devoted gardener myself, I spent much time out in the garden. My tour guide was the hotel's cat. She waits by the door for each group of visitors and walks all around the garden with them. She even stops at the highlights! Smart cat!

The high mountain climate, the fogs and rain, the crater of the volcano all act to give this garden incredible depth of color and quality. I have seldom seen a better one. A bit on the slippery and difficult to walk side with all the rain, I did manage to descend nearly all the way to the bottom of the garden. All of the lovely seating areas were too wet to enjoy; so I just kept walking and dripping. All the garden markers and maps are in Japanese. You just have to enjoy and let the details go. The most intense shades of green I've ever experienced. The most beautiful arrangements of trees, shrubs and rocks.

No charge for admission although I wonder if it is open only to hotel guests.

The famous 5th Station is the jumping off point for the thousands of people who trek up Mt. Fuji every summer. I was there in late May, well ahead of the official climbing season of July/August. At least it wasn't crowded, but neither did we see Mt. Fuji. At about 2300 meters above sea level, arriving at the 5th Station is neither an easy drive nor walk. I arrived to very strong winds, heavy fog and a driving rain. But I went as I didn't know if I would be back this way again.

There are both inn and restaurant facilities. The shops were open and praying for customers. I paid 50Yen to use the toilet. The only time I encountered such a fee in Japan, but understandable and all the 'residue' has to be taken down the mountain in barrels. I had a cup of very hot tea and a package of dumplings for a snack and went out to see what I could of this famous location. I was well dressed in rain jacket, 2 shirts, heavy pants, proper walking shoes, a hat and a very often used Leki walking stick. Also I had an umbrella. Still I got very wet, but I feel my photos are worth it.

A Shinto shrine is a stopping off place for all those who try to climb Mt. Fuji. If I had seen the view, I might have been a bit frightened, but I could see very little. At least I have the photos.

This isn't easy going and the altitude is not recommended for those with breathing problems. The footing is slippery even in the parking lot. There was snow and ice on 31 May! The trails up the mountain were entirely closed due to dangerous conditions.

The trails up from the 5th Station are made so that just about any one can make the climb, but there are still dangers. During the climbing season there are many vendors and official guides along the easier trails to make sure it is as safe as possible.

In season you begin your climb in total darkness as the universal goal is to be on the mountain when the sun rises. That means you either drive that road in the black dark, stay overnight at an inn at the 5th Station or ride a bus. I took a bus and let the driver sweat it out. I noticed many visitors getting off the bus wearing t-shirts and short pants. Not a good idea! I'm used to finding my way in fog and wind and enjoyed my walk about. The others ran into the shops and stayed there until the bus departed. Sad! A woman in a shop gave me 'lucky' bells for my walking stick. Lucky for finding a lost person I guess.