FROM HELL TO EDEN

Thursday, Aug. 30, 2018      Today we leave the crush of Tokyo and end up in an incredibly serene spot.  Bags are to be outside the room by 7:30 for our 9:00 departure.  Time enough for our last go at the excellent breakfast buffet at the Prince Hotel.    I forgot to turn off my phone and, at 5:15, got a robocall from the U.S.  If I could get my hands on . . .  Couldn’t fall back to sleep, so we got up for early breakfast.  We eat like there’s no tomorrow.  Omelets, sausage, fruit, yoghurt, curried rice (!), danishes, OJ, and cafe americano.  We’re going to miss this place, methinks.  On the bus for an hour or so and we stopped at a highway rest for a bathroom break.  Japan gets lots of tourists from all over Asia, and many from the more rural areas of Japan as well.  I guess that some folk aren’t quite familiar with modern facilities, as we saw signs like these not only here, but all over, including in fancy hotels. We like the ones showing how NOT to squat.  Like most everything in Japan, even roadside bathrooms are immaculate.  While traveling this morning, we did a go-around on the bus where everyone introduced him/herself.  It helped pass the time to get a mini-bio of where folks were from.  On our other Colette tours, this was done at the first night welcome dinner, but this was a good alternative.  We learned from Yoshiko that Japan is 80% mountains and only 10% flat enough for agriculture (rice) and industry.  Guess the rest is residential.

Our morning stop today was at Owakudani crater, located in an active volcanic zone, created 3,000 years ago when Mt. Hakone erupted.  We are to ride the Hakone Ropeway, an aerial tram up to the rim of the crater, passing over a desolate swath that vents sulphur gas for your olfactory pleasure.  As I can smell nothing, I was the only one breathing easy in our car.   On a clear day, one allegedly can see Mt. Fuji from here, but it was cloudy today.

Nice little warning sign, eh?  Well, this was at the TOP of the ride, and nowhere to be found at the bottom where we boarded.  I have both asthma and respiratory disease!  I think I was in more danger of a panic attack when I read the signs at the top.  Fortunately, it was really windy at the top, and it was blowing all of the gases away from us.  I think on a calm day I’d have been in trouble.  Below, check out the wind blowing the girl’s hair next to Loni.  It was strong.  We had a bite to eat in the reception area, and bought our one and only souvenir, an inlaid wood depiction of a man smoking his pipe while gazing at Mt. Fuji.  Looks less kitschy than it sounds.  The map I’m standing behind pictures this area and our next destination for tonight, Lake Ashi and the resort town of Hakone.

Our driver had brought the bus up the winding road to the top, so we didn’t ride the cable down.  We descended a lot of switchbacks and went on to Lake Ashi.  We were dropped off at a ferry building (Chuck wanders in front) where we waited 30 minutes for our boat to arrive.  While we were sitting around outside, what should sail into sight but a pirate galleon (!).  Say, what?  That wasn’t our ride, but a competing excursion service.  There’s a couple of them on the lake.  According to Yoshiko, the tour used to use the pirate ship, but guests complained it was too fake.  I have to say, I agree.  Not the Japanese experience.  Loni’s posing by some of the more unusual watercraft.  Didn’t see any of them out today.  Yoshiko is pointing out our destination of Hakone-Kona on the map.  At the time, we’re located at the red dot on the left of the lake.

We had a more prosaic boat, a large ferry catamaran which I suspect was more comfortable than the pirate ship.  The lake is deceptively large, as it bends around so that you can’t see from one end to the other.  We passed our lodge as we motored down, the Odakyu Hotel de Yama, and it looked pretty nice from the water.  It was even better when we got there.

The cruise down the lake, surrounded by low mountains, reminded me of Scotland, of all places.  Maybe it was the low clouds.  We had a couple of stops before we disembarked on the dock at Moto-Hakone, the only village of any size on the lake.  We had a short while to wait for our bus to make its way to us from the ferry stop over the back roads.  Fortunately, we spied what looked like a bakery.  Boy, was it ever.  Named straightforwardly “Bakery Table #1,” it had a wide selection of breads, scones, pastries, you name it.  All excellent.  You could plunk this place down in Paris and it would do fine.

Yes, we were happy campers.  Utterly amazing to find this quality of bakestuffs in Japan.  This isn’t a regular part of their culinary culture.  Loni’s eating a sourdough bread filled with cream cheese and orange peel and honey, still warm from the oven.  I’ve got a scone packed with orange, cranberries and nuts, no butter needed. Not sure about Alice and Chuck, but no complaints.  Yoshiko says the place is famous, and I can believe it.  Amply tanked up, we boarded the bus for the short drive over to the Hotel de Yama.  I don’t hesitate to say this was my favorite stay of the entire trip.  I’m only sorry we couldn’t have had two nights and saved it for the end.  This was one of the most serene and calming places I’ve ever been in.  The room was nice, but not extraordinary, except for the view outside the window.

Oh, yeah.  The view.

This was the sculptured shrubs walking garden (note path) with the lake being visible just beyond.  Absolutely quiet.  No motors, no traffic, nothing but the occasional bird call.  Utterly peaceful.  I could have sat here for hours.  This, not Tokyo, is what I wanted to experience in Japan.  Thank you, Colette!  We left our sliding door open all night to savor the air.  The panoramic view distorts things, but shows the scope:

There were natural hot springs baths available, and kimonos in the closet to get us there, but it was au naturel only so we passed.  Nothing to see here, folks, move along.  We loafed about until it was time for dinner at the hotel.  I thought we’d be downstairs in the dining room, but we were escorted out the door, down the drive, and into a separate building nearer the lake.  Very nice setting.  The interior, which seemed to be undergoing a mild facelift, was set with tables for 7.  Turns out this is Colette’s 100th anniversary, and the 70th for the hotel.  We got a meal fit for both.  Sorta made up for the previous chicken disaster.

From Loni’s notes, I’ll reconstruct what we had in the hotel’s take on a “formal classic French cuisine” meal.  An appetizer pastry square with cheese and peppers, pumpkin soup, sea bream mousse on bread, roast “sheep leg” (lamb) with potatoes & green beans, roasted tomato, dessert plate of berry sorbet, cheese cake, fruit, and a white chocolate square. 

Everything was delicious.  Kudos, and happy anniversaries to Colette and Hotel de Yama!