We had done it. The four of us had scaled Mt. Fuji and lived to tell about it. Now we had a date with those sexy, yet often elusive twins, Ms. Rest and Ms. Relaxation. I had penciled them into my calendar at as-soon-as-possible 'o clock. There was one problem though, we had gotten back from Mt. Fuji 5th station too early and our hotel at Kawaguchiko Lake wouldn't let us check in. They did, however, allow us to drop off our luggage and change clothes. I had a bad case of HBO (horrible body odor) since I hadn't changed since we left Tsukuba.
Feeling somewhat refreshed, we left the hotel in search of something that would kill a couple hours. You would think that a town situated perfectly at the foot of one Japan's most popular tourist attractions would have tons of interesting things to do. You would think, but you would be wrong. Our options were essentially these:
Influenced by the appeal of a 'leisurely' cruise, we chose item 1).
The boat ride was pretty nice, although it wasn't as long as we had hoped for at twice the price. Afterward, we perused the shops and quickly discovered that each one was a carbon copy of the previous shop. The four of us found a bench under some shade and lounged. It got really interesting when an ambulance and fire truck came to the lake and took a lady away. Our conclusion, following much debate, was that she was having a baby.
Still one hour away from our expected check in time, we started walking toward a park, but noticed other people getting checked into our hotel! I thought to myself 'Oh I hope they let us check in!' and they did. Finally, we could get in our rooms, relax, and do things on our own time...or so we thought.
An assistant grabbed some of our bags and led us to our rooms. Before we could say "chopsticks" our hostess popped out of nowhere, introduced herself, and started an unnecessarily long rundown of dinner, breakfast, how to wear our yukatas, ect, ect. I really started to get worried when she started showing us maps of the fire exits. 'Pleeeeeeeeease let us just relax in our rooms!' She even insisted on giving a yukata demo using Hal as a model.
Finally, when I was about at the point of tears, our hostess left and we were able to take several hours to rest. We immediately plopped our heads down and napped for a couple hours in our respective rooms until it was time for dinner. Keep in mind, we really hadn't slept since we left Tsukuba on our way to climb Mt. Fuji.
Dinner was a full-on, no holds barred, Japanese dinner. It was served in Hal and Nancy's room and we all dressed up in our yukatas.
As you can see, each of us had about a dozen different menu items. This proved to be a tricky circumstance on account of Katie's shellfish allergy. Those Japanese people can sneak shrimp into anything (i.e. egg pudding, semi-transparent jell stuff, sauce).
Here is a photo of our onsen on our balcony. Onsens are traditional Japanese hot baths which are located all over Japan in many hotels and resorts. Usually, you are asked to bathe first so you get in clean. Did I mention that you are expected to be naked? Obviously this wasn't an issue for our personal tub, but for westerners it can feel pretty awkward in the public ones (trust me).
After a relaxing soak, we hit the hay because we would be heading to Sado Island early the next morning!
-Seth
Feeling somewhat refreshed, we left the hotel in search of something that would kill a couple hours. You would think that a town situated perfectly at the foot of one Japan's most popular tourist attractions would have tons of interesting things to do. You would think, but you would be wrong. Our options were essentially these:
1) Ride a boat that cruises around the lake and enjoy the view.
2) Ride a more adventurous speed boat ride around the lake and view it at a more "fast forward" pace.
3) Ride a short tram up to view Mt. Fuji. (It was too cloudy)
4) Visit a gem museum.
5) Walk to a nearby park and wait.
Influenced by the appeal of a 'leisurely' cruise, we chose item 1).
"Awww man, we should have done the speed boat instead."
The boat ride was pretty nice, although it wasn't as long as we had hoped for at twice the price. Afterward, we perused the shops and quickly discovered that each one was a carbon copy of the previous shop. The four of us found a bench under some shade and lounged. It got really interesting when an ambulance and fire truck came to the lake and took a lady away. Our conclusion, following much debate, was that she was having a baby.
Still one hour away from our expected check in time, we started walking toward a park, but noticed other people getting checked into our hotel! I thought to myself 'Oh I hope they let us check in!' and they did. Finally, we could get in our rooms, relax, and do things on our own time...or so we thought.
An assistant grabbed some of our bags and led us to our rooms. Before we could say "chopsticks" our hostess popped out of nowhere, introduced herself, and started an unnecessarily long rundown of dinner, breakfast, how to wear our yukatas, ect, ect. I really started to get worried when she started showing us maps of the fire exits. 'Pleeeeeeeeease let us just relax in our rooms!' She even insisted on giving a yukata demo using Hal as a model.
Men: Left over right. Women: right over left.
Finally, when I was about at the point of tears, our hostess left and we were able to take several hours to rest. We immediately plopped our heads down and napped for a couple hours in our respective rooms until it was time for dinner. Keep in mind, we really hadn't slept since we left Tsukuba on our way to climb Mt. Fuji.
Dinner was a full-on, no holds barred, Japanese dinner. It was served in Hal and Nancy's room and we all dressed up in our yukatas.
As you can see, each of us had about a dozen different menu items. This proved to be a tricky circumstance on account of Katie's shellfish allergy. Those Japanese people can sneak shrimp into anything (i.e. egg pudding, semi-transparent jell stuff, sauce).
We had mini grills to cook some beef and rice.
Overall, it was a great dinner and experience. We all tried things we had never eaten before, which served to be a theme for the rest of the trip.
After dinner we went back to our rooms and enjoyed the view of Kawaguchiko Lake and our own private onsens.
Here is a photo of our onsen on our balcony. Onsens are traditional Japanese hot baths which are located all over Japan in many hotels and resorts. Usually, you are asked to bathe first so you get in clean. Did I mention that you are expected to be naked? Obviously this wasn't an issue for our personal tub, but for westerners it can feel pretty awkward in the public ones (trust me).
After a relaxing soak, we hit the hay because we would be heading to Sado Island early the next morning!
-Seth
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