Japan - Hakone

Whew, what a day! We learned a few days ago that our tour guide for today had Covid. As of late yesterday, the tour company still had not found a replacement. So, we were in a bit of limbo about what to do today. We knew we were traveling to Hakone, a small town south of Tokyo that is famous for its hot spring baths (onsen). So, we decided to pack up this morning and be prepared to depart. Since we had some time, we also thought we could look for an ATM to get some more local currency. On our way to 7-11 (the best place for ATMs), we got a message that the tour company had found a new guide for us and we were back on track. So, we had to hurry back to our hotel room to pick up our luggage and head to the train station to head out for Hakone. We were a bit overwhelmed when we walked into the train station to try and figure out which train we needed and how to get to the proper track. Needless to say, we managed and we were off. Our tour guide met us at the proper stop and we embarked on our day. We first took a bus to Lake Ashi with beautiful views of Mt Fuji (when the clouds cooperated), then we walked to a park that was the summer home of a late emperor, then we walked to a craft house that is famous for making puzzle boxes out of local wood, then we boarded an elaborate masted schooner and crossed the lake to take a gondola over the mountain after a stop at the top to eat black hard boiled eggs (boiled in the local hot springs which turn the eggs black), then we took a cable car further down the mountain to catch another two trains before catching the bus that took us to the base of the mountain where our hotel is nestled next to a stream from the lake. I’m sure I’ve missed one or two forms of transportation because it was a lot. In any event, we are now nestled into our hotel which is a traditional ryokan (country inn). We have a tatami room where they need to come in every night to lay out our futons to sleep in. We have a hot spring bath in our room and we can hear the stream. The dinner was about 15 courses of food we’d almost never had before (including puffer fish) and we sat on the floor in seats like stadium seats with a back. Again, I’m exhausted and ready to sleep to the sound of the stream…