Hello!

We made it to Hakone-Yumoto after a 3 hour train ride, a little snooze and some activity planning. We think we saw a glimpse of the bottom of Mount Fuji but are hoping to catch a better sight of it tomorrow when we set off on the loop around the area using a 2 day pass that we purchased at the station. We caught a shuttle bus to the hotel from the station, only a short distance away but we soon realised this place is literally in the mountains so very hilly all around. We couldn't check in straight away so dropped our bags at reception and went to explore the town we had passed on the bus. There was a gorgeous river right through the middle of the town which we crossed a bridge over before finding a cafe for some lunch which overlooked it.

We decided that we would give the local Mini Golf a go this afternoon so after a brisk walk up a very steep road we collected our clubs, sun hats and balls and started a 9 hole course. Now this may seem a little surprising but the first hole ended with Tara scoring an eagle 2 and Tom a bogey 5! After a dodgy start on the mountain course Tom made a come back to finish 6 under par scoring 30 and Tara finished 1 over par with 37!! An excellent round by all!

We have just arrived at the Hakone Yuryo, the destination of our next Onsen bath. We are currently enjoying a beer before we will strip off again to enjoy the natural hot springs!

Good afternoon,

It is now Sunday and we are currently on the train back down the mountain and heading for our final destination, Tokyo!

Yesterday the Onsen proved to be as magical as it looked in the pictures. From our little rock pool we relaxed looking into the forest around us. When our hour was up we continued to relax by having a 30 minute back massage each! It is safe to say that by the end of it we were both well chilled and we're loving life in the mountains!

We had enjoyed our time in the Hakone Yuyro resort so much that we caught the bus back to the town, walked to our hotel, checked in and got changed before completing the journey in reverse to head back to the Hakone Yuryo for dinner! We both opted for a traditional Japanese meat set which involved us cooking the food ourselves on a BBQ built into our table. After smoking the restaurant out and finishing our tiny meat plates in about 5 mouthfuls we ordered some Shimp Tempura and Noodles to fill us up! We enjoyed the experience and then took the shuttle bus back to the village and walked up the hill along the river to our hotel, Senkei Plaza.

This morning we woke up in separate beds after a good nights sleep in our twin room. The sun was shining again and after a good breakfast we checked out and started our hunt for a view of Mt Fuji.

After leaving our bags in a locker at the station we took the Tozan Mountain Railway up the hill, zigzagging and changing direction a number of times as it was so steep! Our first stop was the Gora Park and we enjoyed a little stroll through the gardens in bloom to a beautiful waterfall that was bright green! After an iced coffee we got back on the cable car train up to the ropeway station. We travelled over the mountains and valleys high above the ground and enjoyed amazing views from the sky. As we reached the peak and caught a glimpse over the top Mt Fuji appeared in all its glory in the distance! The top of the mountain was peaking through the clouds and we could see snow on the top. It was an amazing sight and we felt very lucky to have seen the top! As we were enjoying the view in the distance, directly below us was another incredible sight as volcanic gas and steam surged out of the ground! The ropeway station wasn't far and after exiting the building we could smell the sulphur in the air! We took some photos before opting to buy a very peculiar and unique snack! The local delicacy of Hakone is the famous Black Egg! Boiled in natural volcanic spring water and then steamed in a temperature of 100 degrees, these hard boiled eggs certainly don't look very appetising! Of course we had to try them and bought the minimum of 5 tucked in. They didn't really taste any different but at least we will both now live 7 years longer as the ancient myth claims!

We got back on the ropeway down to the lake enjoying incredible views of Mt Fuji during our decent. After a short wait we boarded a huge old ship called The Victory and set sail down Lake Ashi towards Hakone. We stood at the back of the boat looking out over the lake and mountains on either side, it was a lovely experience and we both felt very lucky to be sharing it together. As we approached the port at the other end, Mt Fuji appeared once again and stood perfectly in the distance overlooking the lake. Beautiful!

After searching the small town for food and failing miserably we decided to take the bus back over the hills to Hakone-Yumoto to complete the loop. We collected our bags from the locker and bought some lunch in the station shop.

We are now on the train to Tokyo after changing at Odawara and in around an hour our we will reach our final destination...

Good evening, it's now 9:51pm and as we sit on the roof top terrace drinking a Mojito and a Jim Beam and Coke life couldn't be better!

On our arrival at Shinjuku Station it took us a short while to work out which way to go to reach our hotel. Finally we asked at the station information desk and after a 15 min walk we arrived at the Granbell Hotel, Tokyo!

On our way to the room we spotted an advert for happy hour and had an hour and 10 mins until it was last orders. We quickly rang Qatar to rearrange our flights home because of their ongoing dispute.... we are now booked on a Cathy Pacific flight via Hong Kong for free which should cost £4,715 each.... then we got changed and made it to the roof bar for 6:45pm! A beer and glass of sparkling wine later we decided to head around the corner to the Golden Gai for dinner.

We quickly realised that the Golden Gai wasn't quite what we were expecting as it looked very sleazy and creepy in the dark. Fearing another evening wandering the streets looking for food we took out the recommended restaurants sheet that we picked up in the hotel. We chose one nearby called
Torikizoku but had no idea which way to go to find it! The streets around were covered in neon lights, 'love' hotels and seemed a little trashy! Fortunately as we took a left turn the restaurant was literally next to us and we walked down into the basement not knowing what to expect... all we knew was that it sounded like it was buzzing!

Downstairs we found a room packed with people having a great time sat in lots of little booths. We managed to get a table after miraculously navigating our way through a ticket machine in Japanese! After a 10 min wait we were shown to our table and chose what we wanted to eat from the English menu. Basically the idea was that you ordered your food through an iPad on our table and it arrived... we couldn't work it out at first so with the help of the waiter we ordered. As we waited for the food we had a play on the iPad (all in Japanese) and risked trying to order some salt and soy sauce both of which were 0YEN. When it actually arrived we were well chuffed and proceeded to order more food, drinks and a dessert all in Japanese using the iPad! (The photos helped)

It was a great atmosphere in the restaurant, the food was delicious and we both thought it was one of our favourite meals!

As we finish our drinks overlooking Tokyo we are excited to explore tomorrow on our last full day of our China + Japan tour!

See you all soon,
T&T x