The weather has been quite rainy, so we’ve mostly remained indoors enjoying the services of the hotel and relaxing.
Today started out in similarly dreary fashion, but turned around, meaning our days diverged:
Together:
Lovely coffee at Timuny.
Marthese
Onsen in the morning, followed by a massage. Then reading, and contemplating returning to the onsen.
Elias
Wandering around Hokoneyumoto on foot, finding a few shrines and temples, and looking for the old Tokaido Rd that used to connect old Edo with Kyoto, not realising I’d been walking on it for over an hour.
Returned to hotel full of beans, changed a sweat drenched shirt, and hopped on a scenic bus up the mountain towards Moto-Hakone to try to catch a glimpse of Mt Fuji across the river. No luck, foggy mist obscuring the majority of the lake, let alone the mountains towering above it.
Popped over to a shrine, grabbed a Bratwurst.
Then found the part of the Tokaido Rd I’d been looking for, an old cobblestone path built in the early 1600s, with tall cedars planted along the path to shade travelers on their long trek through Edo. Hiked along here for 2km, taking in the beautiful forest sounds and digging the eerie vibe of the creeping fog. Declined to walk the entire 9km home (it was still pretty muddy and slippery, and looked like it might rain again) and jumped on a bus back to the hotel.
Together
Tonight we dine on French food again and toast to our awesome trip.
Elias Rambles 