We set out to Hakone in the afternoon, taking the first leg by Shinkansen (bullet train), it's pretty darn fast (and comfortable), whenever another Shinkansen passed you could feel the force of it. We transferred onto a local train and then took the final leg by taxi to the Ryokan (traditional Japanese inn). The taxi ride was interesting, we darted in and out of cars on roads that were far too narrow with plenty of blindspots, but we made it there in one piece and stepped outside to be greeted by Ryokan staff.

The Ryokan was seriously amazing, it's the sort of inn you imagine when you think of traditional Japan. It made a nice change from Tokyo and topped the hotel in Shinagawa by miles. The main rule to remember (which I frogot) is to remove your shoes before stepping on any tatami flooring, which is just about everywhere inside the rooms.

We spotted some monkeys on the roof, one of them lunged at some people but not me, they just sat there quietly and let me take pictures. Kawaii :)

That night the whole group dined together in the Ryokan, some of us put on kimonos and we sat on chairs without legs on the floor with tables just inches off the ground. The food is an experience I'll never forget, we had sushi, unagi, and other kinds of incredible fresh fish, both raw and cooked, all served on separate dishes. Some meat and vegetables were on a plate above a candle so the food stayed hot right until you wanted to eat it. I tried everything... and it was all SUGOI and went down a treat, I'm quite surprised none of the raw fish upset my stomach so that's probably testament to how fresh it was.

I had an opportunity to bathe in an Onsen (natural hot spring), but by that point the jetlag was really dragging me down and I was ready to pass out, I was so tired that during dinner the floor sometimes felt like it was moving. But I got a great night's sleep behind my sliding doors in the best, quietest and most incredible accommodation I've ever stayed in. The Ryokan was kind and laid out a nice Western breakfast in the morning, I was apprehensive that we would be eating more raw fish at 7am so it was nice to introduce some familiar food to my system!

We set out to explore Hakone, it was very beautiful and peaceful, especially compared to the chaos of Tokyo. The weather was just glorious, not a cloud in the sky and probably too hot for my milk bottle skin. We took a series of local trains up the mountains in order to get to the cable cars. It was a very clear day so we were hopeful we could see Mount Fuji, which is a notoriously shy mountain completely invisible behind mist a lot of the time; our tour leader said she had been here seven times and only ever seen the mountain once. But somehow, perhaps graced by the gods of Shintoism, we were not disappointed. There were some stunning views of Fuji from the cable car (although just the snowy tip), it is seriously imposing, towering over everything around it.

We stopped atop a mountain between cable cars, where you could try Hakone's famous sulfur boiled eggs, which supposedly prolong your life for seven more years, but if you eat more than three at a time I think it can be fatal. I ate one so if I die in the next seven years they will be getting a letter, and hold on... does that mean if I eat one every six years I'll live forever?

We travelled to another island in Hakone by a rather untraditional form of transport: a pirate boat, to be honest I thought I'd have to go to Somalia to get on one of these. There was a pretty lame man dressed as a pirate onboard who wanted　￥1000 for a photo, but he didn't have a wooden leg or a parrot! Only an eye patch, and I reckon his eye was intact! I decided to work around his con and take a sneaky photo from the top deck. I think that ends my Hakone experience on a rather ARGHHH note.

Lee-san x