Hakone Part 1

I would not want to drive on the windy roads - especially on the left side!

We love to travel but living in Tokyo with two dogs causes some issues - like what to do with them so you can run around the Eastern part of the world?  I check out about a dozen different kennels and finally find one I think I'm comfortable with leaving our dogs.  So we decide to go away for a weekend to "test" how they'll do.  We want to make it the best trip possible, because it might be our only chance to leave Tokyo in two years!  

We choose Hakone, a resort area two hours from Tokyo. (Or about four hours if Google doesn't match up your times correctly so you don't realize you can take the bullet train without having to then take a bus and walk half a mile.  But hey, the train we took was called the "Romancecar" - which sounds lovey-dovey but is really just a regular train, with nice bathrooms & a cafe car.  I love train travel!)  We then have to take an incline train that switchbacks up the mountain.  It's really only scary when it goes by a group of maintenance guys on the side of the tracks.  If I could understand Japanese, I'm sure I would have heard, "Do you think the repair will hold?"  "Well, I guess we'll find out - if the train falls in the ravine, then it won't."  Luckily, it held.

We are greeted at the train station by a gentleman from the inn, so he can drive us there in a new E-class Mercedes, which takes all of 2 minutes.  Check-in is a breeze, and we are brought to our room and given a sweet & green tea as a welcome.

Our attendant (in formal kimono) answering Steve's question on how to cut the sweet served with our green tea.  I'm glad he asked, because I would have picked it up with my hand to eat it - but instead you use the giant cocktail pick (that's what it looked like) to cut it in half, then spear the half and eat it.  Sometimes eating in Japan is stressful!

Our private backyard with our 125 degree onsen.

We stay at a ryokan, or a traditional Japanese inn.  The best part of our room is the onsen (natural hot spring tub) in our private "backyard."  The area has some volcanic activity (as we learned - but not quite as firsthand as you might think) that causes it to heat the underground springs, and a lot of the ryokans in the area use them to create baths.  It was so hot that after getting out I could stand in the 28 degree night air for five minutes before I cooled off (now I'm wondering how healthy that really is....my temperature must have gotten really high).  We're glad to have our own private onsen because you're not allowed to wear a bathing suit or any clothes when you are in it!  Public ones have separate baths for males and for females.

In our yukatas - could I get away with walking the dogs wearing just this?

Our room has tatami mat floors, we sleep on futons placed on the floor (very comfortable), and we can wear yukatas (cotton kimonos that are provided by the hotel) everywhere.  It's basically a cotton robe with a nice sash (and weird socks). 

Kanpai!  No calls from the kennel yet saying our dogs have eaten another dog.

That evening we are served a private kaiseki at our room's dining table. (Yes, sitting on the tatami mats with a table 18" off the ground.  It is surprisingly comfortable.)  A kaiseki is a traditional multi-course Japanese meal.  It usually corresponds with the four seasons with regards to the serving dishware, the arrangement of the food, and the ingredients themselves.  Each course is a small portion, so you can eat it all. 

Dinner

Even the sake is served beautifully!

One of our courses

  Me using the black & white feature of the phone to show Steve why the ferns (from the picture on the left) are upside down in the bowl - the front of the ferns are the same color value as the red bowl. (See how they're the same shade of grey above?)  So the back of the ferns are used to provide more contrast (light against dark).  Quilting color theory at work!

After the big meal and another soak in the onsen, we settle down in our futons for a good night's sleep.