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Japan – Day 7 (Hakone)

I’ve had a bad day, so this is just going to be a long winded bitching whining journal entry. Feel free to skip it if you want.

As a society in America, we tend to only talk about the good things and not mention the bad. Especially on social media and particularly when we travel, we like to show only that we’re having the time of our life even when there are down days. Then we watch everyone seemingly having a blast and feel bad about the boring, everyday life we’re leading at that moment. This is totally not representative of reality, the truth is even on the best days there’s always some down part or some annoyance. And other days the day is just a total waste. Today was one of those days for me.

When I woke up the sun was out, so after breakfast I decided to take a chance and go back to Hakone. First, I accidentally left my keycard in my room, so I had to get another one to get in and get my first one. I kept the first original card and gave the second one back, but that delayed me, so by the time I got to the train station it was already 10:00am. Next I went to check out this “Hakone Pass” I had heard about the day before. The sign said it was for 1-2 days, so I had assumed the $45 dollar price was for the one day with an option for 2 days for more, but actually it was flat out for two days. Why they say 1-2 days and not just 2 days, I have no idea, but I could have bought this pass yesterday and not wasted the $35 I spent paying on my IC card. The $45 pass for the day was still a good deal though, seeing how I wanted to do the cable car, ropeway, and pirate boat lake tour, so I purchased it and headed to the train.

Took the train to the end of the line, then walked over to the bus stop. The line for the bus stop wrapped allllll the way around the station. Since the typhoon damaged the train line to Gora in Hakone, the only way to get there is by bus. So after waiting about 30 minutes for the bus, I was finally on my way to Gora where the cable cars start. We got to Gora and unloaded towards the cable car, only to find out right as we were walking up to it that they cancelled both the cable car AND the ropeway for the day due to high winds. The fact that they didn’t tell us this when we bought our passes in Odawara, considering the bulk of the fee is for those two attractions, is bullshit. With the ropeway down that meant they were also sending all of the tourists in the complete OPPOSITE direction of where we all needed to be to get to the lake. Some people were getting belligerent with the non-English speaking conductor, but I’ve been here enough times to know that it’s pointless to argue or ask for a refund in this country. The Japanese are polite, and give good service, but when things go wrong they won’t do a damn thing to fix it most of the time, at least not without making you pay more one way or the other. Fortunately it’s very rare that things go wrong, which is why I think they don’t have a system to fix things. When something does go wrong, you’re shit out of luck, the entire country has a “no refund for any reason” policy just so you know, and getting worked up about it accomplishes nothing. This isn’t America.

I turned my butt around and went to the bus stop and wound up getting crunched between a group of people with waaaay too much luggage, they blocked the entire back of the bus and I had to practically climb over them when I got to the transfer point to yet another bus. Finally 45 minutes later I was at the lake. So, now being about 2pm we got to the bottom of where the ropeway would have gone if it were open via standing room only bus. I did make friends with a very lovely Australian couple during this little adventure, so when we finally got to the pier we all got some extremely overpriced cafeteria food and ate together.

Then as we were finishing up we noticed the boat was about to leave, so we put our stuff away and practically ran to the boat. The three of us were the last ones on. Once on the boat we all realized exactly why the ropeway was closed, the winds almost knocked you off your feet. Anything not tied down was blowing away, and everyone started doing the Titanic pose on the upper deck as a joke. Despite such a ridiculous transportation day everyone WAS trying to keep a positive mind about it all. The clouds were low and the sky was dark as we left port, but as we approached the first stop the wind whipped clouds actually started to break up and let sunlight through. Lo and behold, by the time we left the second stop the clouds parted for roughly 3 minutes for a perfect view of Mt. Fuji just as we were passing Hakone Shrine. I’m glad I did Hakone Shrine yesterday, the winds and waves were so strong people couldn’t go down onto the platform today. I did the hour tour around the lake, and when we got back to our starting point I asked if the ropeway was still down and they said yeah, so I gave up for the day and got back on the boat. There was no way I was going to take two buses and a train to get back to Odawara when there’s an express bus on the other side of the lake. Luck was against me again though, I got stuck standing once more. Also, even though the bus sign says it goes to Odawara, and the map shows it goes to Odawara, and the guides all said it goes to Odawara…it actually doesn’t, it just takes you to the train station that you have to transfer to in order to get to Odawara. I hate the Japanese bus system…

So while I didn’t die or get sick or anything like that, from a tourist experience standpoint, I basically I spent roughly 5 hours standing in a bus or train to catch a 3 minute glimpse of Fuji which I already saw yesterday. What an annoying waste of a day. Then again, I suppose there are worse ways to spend a day, I did meet some nice people and get a few good photos. Also, just FYI but the promo posters showing Mt. Fuji super close over the lake are completely photoshopped. You can see Fuji yeah, but way off in the distance like okay that’s cool but not amazing. Anyway, I was in a bad mood from all of that so instead of eating in a restaurant I went to the 7-11 and got a sandwich, onigiri, and Smirnoff Ice because when it comes to alcohol this country is stuck about 20 years in the past. I did find a hard cider finally but it’s only 3% so meh.

I went back to the hotel, and since I had kept the first keycard and not the second one the card I had didn’t work, so I had to go back down and get yet another new one. I know, I know, first world problems and all that, but god damnit I was tired and almost getting to that “straw that broke the camel’s back” status. I showered, ate, and made plans for Kyoto for the rest of the night. At one point someone tried to come into my room, so I think they may have forgotten that I switched rooms last night (they tried to put me in a room behind the elevator where my window had a gorgeous view of the inside of the elevator maintenance area…hahaha no. I immediately made them move me to a nicer room). Now my neighbors are being REALLY loud right now…ugh. UPDATE: And someone pulled the fire alarm for no reason in the middle of the night. Nice.

I gotta say, under the right conditions I’m sure Hakone is great. It is beautiful for sure, but the weather is so unpredictable, the prices are outrageous, the crowds are unmanageable, and the transportation system can’t accommodate everyone. So unless you plan waaaaay far ahead, or have the money to stay in an expensive resort on the lake for at least two days, I wouldn’t recommend it. Or, maybe I’d recommend a day trip out here if you check the weather to be sure it’s 100% perfect beforehand. Otherwise, if it’s cloudy or windy or a weekend or holiday or just a day where a bird flapped its wings the wrong way, it’s not worth the time and money. I won’t be coming back. I kinda wish I had gone to Kawaguchi instead, it’s right at the base of Mt. Fuji and their autumn colors look amazing right now. True, it’s harder to get to than Hakone which is why I came here instead, but after these past two days I’m thinking the extra travel time to get over there is worth it particularly when travel within Hakone is so terrible.

Well, shitty days are just part of life even when on vacation, and considering this is my first complete bust since I started traveling on August 9th…I’ll take it. It just needs to not happen again pleeeeease!!

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Japan – Day 5 (Kamakura)

I have no idea why I woke up so sore this morning. I’ve been walking miles and miles every day for over a month now, why am I hurting now? Nothing some ibuprofen can’t fix! I had my breakfast and headed out for an adventure on the Japanese bus system! If you’ve never been to Japan let me tell you this, the train system is amazing: everything arrives and leaves on time, it’s clean, it’s orderly, and you always know where things are going and coming from. The bus system…is not. The buses are clean, that’s true, and people typically line up to get on but then the order breaks apart. They don’t always arrive on time, everyone is jammed in, unlike American buses there’s only one way in and one way out and you have to scan your fare card twice because the amount changes depending on distance (as opposed to the flat rate fare in the U.S.) and you basically have to yell at the driver when you want to get off and squeeeeeze through to the front. I tried to avoid the buses back in the day, but in Kamakura it’s unavoidable unless you want to double or triple your travel time.

My first stop was Kenchoji, an old temple with stunning old juniper trees and a very pretty garden. They also have a hiking trail up a mountain but it was shut down due to damage from the recent typhoon. Next I walked over to Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gu, and this place was CRAZY busy. It seemed like there was some sort of children’s festival going on, because there were all of these kids aged 2-5 years old all dressed up in super fancy kimonos and running around being adorable. There was also a very traditional wedding ceremony going on that we all got to watch, and as I was leaving another wedding procession was coming in. This time it was a younger couple and when all the tourists started gushing over the bride and groom (seriously those kimono are GORGEOUS) they both got super happy and started posing for the tourist cameras while they were waiting for the light to change. Once the light changed it was like the parting of the sea and everyone including tourists stepped aside for them without prompting, everyone is so polite and well behaved here. Or maybe it’s because we all know how difficult it is to move around in a dress like a wedding gown let alone a wedding kimono, ha! Next I caught a bus to Hokokuji, known for its tranquil atmosphere and bamboo gardens. Also its momiji, but, like I said no colors yet…

A bus and train ride later and I was at Kotoku-in, where a gigantic Buddha from the 13th century is located. What’s cool about this particular Buddha is you can actually go inside of it and see how they cast and connected all the pieces together, which is really neat. Next, I walked to Hasedera, another place known for its momiji (I’m sensing an aggravating theme here) and koi ponds, plus it has a great view of the city and the ocean since it’s so high up. I filled out a wish clam shell and hung it on the wall of the inari shrine, climbed up to the viewpoint, and walked around the rock zen garden for a while. Afterwards I headed towards Enoshima, a small island just off the coast that’s easy to get to but with a lot of walking, and from the bridge you get a gorgeous view of Mt. Fuji. I walked to the island and up the hill into the shrine, and managed to make 2 of my 3 coin shots into the luck fountain (it’s a pond with a small money box in the middle and you throw a coin while making a wish and if it lands in the box you have good luck). I also made my three trips through the good health ring, pet a resident shrine cat, and made my way down the stairs. I didn’t time my descent well enough though, so by the time I got back to the bridge the sun had already dipped behind the mountains but I still got some good pictures of the sky and Mt. Fuji silhouette. I jumped down to the beach to stick my hand in the ocean, then caught a bus back to the hotel. My legs were killing me, so I took a hot bath with some sort of Epsom salt mix thing that made me feel a bit better. Kamakura is a pretty neat place, I’m glad I stopped by!