Onsen and Offsen in Hakone

We woke up this morning in a leisurely way, eating onigiri for breakfast, packing all of our bags, and bidding adieu to our nice family hotel room in Akasuka.

A quick jaunt to the local market to grab drinks to ward off the 95° heat, and we were headed to the train station.

We grabbed the Tsukuba express to Shin-Okachimachi station, and then spent an hour grabbing bento boxes and ensuring that or tickets were all set for the long trip to Hakone. Spoiler: they were not.

Because of the nature of Japan's ticketing systems, there was no way for us to buy tickets for five people on one device. We needed five devices, five paper tickets, or some combination thereof. We headed to the ticket counter where they explained this to me, and we figured out how to refund two tickets, reissue them as paper tickets for a small fee, and then used my phone, Elizabeth's phone, and our spare iPhone as tickets to get on to the train.

Once we made it to the train, the experience was We had heard that the the train to hakone was potentially a great opportunity for sightseeing, and we set an alarm for exactly 30 days before we needed to take the trip so that we could get the best seats on the train.

Sitting in the very back of the train, we were able to see through the wrap around windshield and take in all of the sites as we cruised through Tokyo, suburbs, and beyond. A lot of the sights that we saw were very familiar, mixes of agriculture and suburb, fields and power lines, houses and empty lots full of weeds. Overall it felt a lot like parts of California, although fixed up.

We arrived at Shinjuku station and made our way towards the bus station that would take us the rest of the way to Hakone. We navigated the twists and turns, multiple escalators, the help of an elderly station attendant, and arrived at the bus stop 2 minutes late to catch our bus. The attendant recommended that we catch a train that would take us part of the way and faster than the bus so that we could catch up.

Given our very recent history where we had difficulty navigating train and bus connections, we opted not to make the mad – back to catch a train so that we could catch a bus that we had already missed. Instead, we opted to go see a local castle in Odawara. The castle was up on the top of a hill, was very white, and seemed to be in good shape with nice grounds. That said, hiking up a hill to see a castle in the distance, while we were enjoying 95° weather and lugging all of our luggage might have been a point for revision next time.

We made our way back down the hill, and on to the bus with plenty of time to spare. We took over the backseat of the bus and enjoyed the beautiful ride up into the mountains towards Hakone.

We made our way to our hotel/ onsen and the noise outside from the balcony where we can hear the rushing of an enormous River and the wind in the trees is incredible. The amount of foliage bridging the gap between jungle and forest is both unfamiliar and similar to other places I've been--Tahoe, Hawaii, Costa Rica.

We quickly settled in and decided on wandering to find dinner. Down the hill a ways, we found a 1950s style American diner, complete with vinyl bench seats, memorabilia, and a proprietor who was very Japanese and wore a very American cowboy had.

The food was decently legitimate, and the takes on burgers and fries provided Japanese flair to an American staple. Elizabeth got a shark burger, Malcolm and Charlie got fish burgers and shrimp burgers, and I got a side of roast beef and salad. Overall it was an excellent experience, and reasonably priced considering we're in the middle of a forest at a tourist trap of the highest caliber.

We finished dinner, picked up snacks for tomorrow at the local 7-Eleven, and then headed back to the hotel. We relaxed for a bit and researched the etiquette for visiting the onsen, eventually deciding to give it a try and hope for the best. Elizabeth headed to her onsen, me and the boys headed to the other, and we enjoyed the relaxation and hot water.

Shortly afterward, Malcolm and Henry made snow cones in the lounge, inviting us down and providing each of us with our own snow cone. This has increased the ratings of the hotel significantly for our children.

Now we are in our room, watching Bushcraft videos, and getting ready for an early day tomorrow where we will try to do all of the things Hakone has to offer in one day.

Wish us luck!