Hakone is known for its Ryokan and Onsen.
Ryokan is a traditional Japanese inn. Many have been in business for over 100 years. Onsen are essentially hot springs with baths. Our Ryokan had a private Onsen.
Our room had pretty much all the amenities you would expect in a hotel room. This room was a bit more of a Western style room, as opposed to a more traditional Japanese style room. You know the difference because there is a lot of less furniture in the Japanese style room.
Once we got settled, we had some time to wander and decided to check out the museum in the upper floor. It was not quite what we were expecting for a museum. It kind of looked more like someone had just left these rooms in tact about 80 years ago and someone went in and cleaned once a decade. There were some interesting photos mixed in that showed the Ryokan in its early days.
With that exploration complete, it was time to take advantage of our onsen before we needed to get ready for our dinner.
Getting ready for dinner involved putting on our yukata, which are a casual variant of a kimono. Yukata can be identified by an obi, or belt, that is tied in the front. A kimono has a much wider obi and is tied in the back. A yukata can be put on by oneself while a kimono, generally, cannot. I have to say, they were quite comfortable, once you got used to them. The special socks, though, were much to small for my feet, as were any sandals they gave me. This made walking at the Ryokan a true challenge.
Dinner was a traditional multi-course meal, called kaiseki. Each course consists of multiple small plates and it takes a while to get through everything. We were both clear about our dietary needs and felt comfortable that we were safe to eat what they served us. We made a point to at least try everything given to us.
Breakfast the next morning was a very similar routine. Corrine seemed more excited about my breakfast than she did her own.
After checkout, we decided to do a little souvenir shopping downtown before heading to Kyoto.
Hakone was a location set in a famous anime called Neon Genesis Evangelion. They ended up having a souvenir shop dedicated just to that anime. I stopped in and bought some stickers and a tshirt.
Many magnets, sweets, and a soft serve ice cream later, we were ready to head back to the train station and enter the next phase of our trip.
Next stop: Kyoto!
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