Hakone

It is my turn to be in the early group today for breakfast so yesterday I made the decision to cancel my breakfast order in favour of a lie in. However, Lucinda being awesome, did get up for breakfast before deciding she didn’t really want it and giving it to me. It is a fairly slow morning at least for me as I don’t really unpack my stuff since being introduced to packing cubes for this trip by my mum; a life saver. So I just amble about getting ready to go and meet the group downstairs still half asleep. We make are way over to the little bus with folding tray mid-isle seats and get dropped off at the station. This journey involves a few different trains but for some reason time flies by. The group tends to get scattered for the long journeys and everyone takes a different approach; some sleep, some watch movies they’ve downloaded or read, others listen to music, I tend to talk the ear off anyone around me, which probably doesn’t come as a surprise to most. However today I try and use these train journeys to catch up on blogs. Taking a little time to be quiet and reflect on my travels so far. Whatever the approach, everyone in the group agrees these train journeys are flying by and have so far been all relatively stress free. I suspect Rachel doesn’t always feel this way being responsible for making sure we are all getting off and on at the right stops but hey we haven’t lost anyone yet even though I have said if we lose one person it is still over a 90% success rate which is pretty damn impressive!

Hakone is an area made up of seven villages. It was created as a retreat from city life. With Mount Fuji and Lake Ashinoko not far, it has become an increasingly popular spot for local and foreign tourists to visit – even so it is still very quiet. We arrive just in time to drop our bags and have a little wander. Jas, Luke, Stephen and I go to Gora Park which is beautiful, complete with a fountain and greenhouses. We see many wonderful looking plants. We do however notice as a group that very few of these flowers seems to be emitting a scent. The group make its way around sticking our noses in virtually every flower we come across. About half way through Luke manages to find one that actually smells lovely but other than that the rest of the garden seems scentless. In one of the greenhouses we do come across some tiny pumpkins which we all enjoy especially as it is getting so close to Halloween. We start to pick up the pace when a booming voice comes over the tannoys in Japanese.We have no idea what it says but we are guessing the place is closing considering that we know that we pretty much just made it for last admittance. We rush through the last bits of the gardens still stopping for the occasional photo, then hitting the road.

We have been given a few options for dinner by Rachel but in what is becoming a running theme the group I am with opt for the brewery. It is just a block or so away from the gardens so we start to meander on down to the restaurant/brewery to take a look at the menu. The food looks amazing with steaks and other treats but when we see the prices we decide to go to the brewery’s other section which is more bar like serving a variety of beers and pizza, a bit more my speed anyway. Jas, Stephen, Luke and I decide to pop in for a drink and message the group chat to see what others are doing. I get a sake beer which is surprisingly good. I started this year with a very healthy New Year’s resolution to get into beer, I believe that during these travels this has become the first New Year’s resolution I can whole heartedly say I have achieved with flying colours. As the evening progresses our group including Rachel slowly make their way to join us in the bar all sampling the brewery’s different beer and sake collection as well as all their pizzas. This place also has a good selection of CBD products on sale which I have to say is a good combo with pizza and beer but the group decide to give it a miss although I get a little tempted by their clothes, but decide to save my money.

Once full of beer and Pizza the group slowly start making its way back to the hostel stopping at a Lawsons to pick up some food and bits. I get a couple bottles of Soju, a fruity new alcohol I have been introduced to and have taken a liking to! Once back at the hostel I join the lads Mark, Luke and Stephen in the hostels private onsen. It is hot, I really do recommend them to anyone who goes to Japan the heat really soaks through to your muscles. Having said that, none of us, other than Mark, last any real time in there. This particular onsen does have a set of nice showers so Luke, Stephen and I end up spending more time just showering then we do in the onsen; they have some nice shampoos and body washes here too, so it’s rather nice! Once refreshed I see the day off with some of my friends having a few drinks and playing UNO (or OUN more accurately, the rip off version I bought in a train station in India) before having an early night.