Day 9 - Hakone: Morning medical 'mare and more mountains
Health drama! Kerry had a strange spot on her shoulder yesterday we thought was caused by her backpack. A load more spots decided to surface across her arms and panic set in. I went down to reception and luckily one of the receptionists was American (though sounded Dutch). No experience of insect bites was known to have happened at the hotel so they advised to consult a doctor. About 30 minutes later we were in a surgery waiting for a dermatology doctor with the same receptionist, Paul Carey who was from Minnesota. Shoes had to be removed when entering the building and crappy slippers worn. The doctor was quick with the diagnosis and proved the hotel wrong that it was an insect bite. Cream was prescribed and the consultation fee cost 7800 Yen (about £35). The hotel promised to change our room and would move our bags when it was ready.
Although Kerry was suffering with eternal itching and a developing cold we wanted to see Mount Fuji before we moved on to Okinawa. We caught the bus just outside the hotel and went down to the volcanic lake. After some twisty mountain roads and 30 minutes later, we saw it in the clear sunshine. No snow cap but still amazing towering over the fore-mountains. Used our travel passes to get on the mock pirate ship ala ferry and a well deserved laugh at the décor. We crossed the lake and enjoyed the scenery and fresh air. Not much on the other side so returned back for some Udon noodles and sandwiches. School party walked passed and were excited to see foreigners waving at us like idiots.
Up the road from the ferry port was the local ‘Checkpoint’ museum. Cheap to get in (and we could see why), there were some interesting weapons and armoury. The Cedar Avenue was kind of a park and leafy walk. Again Mount Fuji dominated the photo taking though a huge green cricket launched itself near us (about 10cm long). Warning signs around for bee stings which was worrying as Kyoto had huge double length orange ones. Walked through more tall cedars and came across a school’s entrance where a book for signing greeted English speaking visitors to sign and leave comments. Kerry duly made comment and put Southampton on the map. Got lucky with the right bus to take us back to the hotel and returned to find our new room which made our last room look like a shabby broom cupboard. As I write this I’m on my own travelling back to Odawara (about 40 minutes by mountain train) to try and change our bullet train tickets to a later time. The JR train passes mean we can get free train travel and change reservations without hassle. Back in the hotel room we order room service as Kerry’s cold needed some RnR. Watched a Fuji TV show called Apron of Love which we realised we watched being filmed last week. The basic premise of the show was like Can’t Cook, Won’t Cook but with Japanese versions of Page 3 models making very complicated dishes. The food was then tasted by a celebrity panel. We had to switch it off after awhile as the studio set was giving us a headache for being too visually noisy.
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Although Kerry was suffering with eternal itching and a developing cold we wanted to see Mount Fuji before we moved on to Okinawa. We caught the bus just outside the hotel and went down to the volcanic lake. After some twisty mountain roads and 30 minutes later, we saw it in the clear sunshine. No snow cap but still amazing towering over the fore-mountains. Used our travel passes to get on the mock pirate ship ala ferry and a well deserved laugh at the décor. We crossed the lake and enjoyed the scenery and fresh air. Not much on the other side so returned back for some Udon noodles and sandwiches. School party walked passed and were excited to see foreigners waving at us like idiots.
Up the road from the ferry port was the local ‘Checkpoint’ museum. Cheap to get in (and we could see why), there were some interesting weapons and armoury. The Cedar Avenue was kind of a park and leafy walk. Again Mount Fuji dominated the photo taking though a huge green cricket launched itself near us (about 10cm long). Warning signs around for bee stings which was worrying as Kyoto had huge double length orange ones. Walked through more tall cedars and came across a school’s entrance where a book for signing greeted English speaking visitors to sign and leave comments. Kerry duly made comment and put Southampton on the map. Got lucky with the right bus to take us back to the hotel and returned to find our new room which made our last room look like a shabby broom cupboard. As I write this I’m on my own travelling back to Odawara (about 40 minutes by mountain train) to try and change our bullet train tickets to a later time. The JR train passes mean we can get free train travel and change reservations without hassle. Back in the hotel room we order room service as Kerry’s cold needed some RnR. Watched a Fuji TV show called Apron of Love which we realised we watched being filmed last week. The basic premise of the show was like Can’t Cook, Won’t Cook but with Japanese versions of Page 3 models making very complicated dishes. The food was then tasted by a celebrity panel. We had to switch it off after awhile as the studio set was giving us a headache for being too visually noisy.
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