Hakone is a small mountain resort city just 90 minutes outside of Tokyo. It's a common trip many Japanese people take over the weekend and is known for its hot springs, view of Mt. Fuji, and ryokans! Ryokans are traditional Japanese hotels- you wear these Japanese robes, have a outdoor/private hotsprings experience, and usually eat an elaborate Kaiseki meal (traditional Japanese meal--- with a lot of little elaborate dishes).
We spent a day riding the various forms of transportation Hakone has (boat, cable car, bus, train, tram, ropecar) and in a traditional Ryokan. We had so much fun there ---and so much fun travelling on the Shinkansen - the bullet train. A few words about the bullet train...amazing!!! There are 2 minute intervals when trains take off, 2 minutes!! They are always on time, quiet, and so incredibly fast. Below is the lunch box we had on the train...they are prepared specifically for train rides and only sold inside train stations.
MIYAJIMA
Okay... we never planned on going to Miyajima, but our friends told us it was worth it, so we made it happen! With Miyajima, we did a 4 city trip in 8 days :) We are troopers. We rode the shinkansen to Hiroshima, took a train and then a ferry and finally made it to Miyajima. The entire island is considered a UNESCO historical site and the country has made efforts to preserve the island in its traditional form. We saw the shrine and climbed Misen mountain. Miyajima also has deer all over the island.
OF COURSE we picked the hardest trail up Misen mountain and it was a massive undertaking. We almost died...it was only 2 hours, but it was a very vertical climb. We didn't give up though, we made it and the view was worth it. Our legs were shaking as we made our way down via cable car (thank god for the cable car). We also had no water... not a smart hiking move. Anyway, we were glad we made it out there.
No comments:
Post a Comment