An epic end to for the last full day of an epic adventure. We had to get up at 5:30am, which is early even by our standards, and boogie over to Shinjuku to meet our tour group by 7am. Luckily we had scoped out our meeting place yesterday and dropped a pin so we had no trouble finding our way (for once!).
The first stop on our tour was a base on Mt Fuji. Brrrrrr!!! It was pretty cloudy, unfortunately, so I think we missed some amazing scenery, but I guess you don't know what you don't know, eh? I did finally find a hoodie that I wanted, though. I don’t think the Japanese are aware of our hoodie obsession or they would have I Heart Japan hoodies at every shop. But, alas, cute hoodies were surprisingly difficult to find while we were here!
Our second stop was at the Gotemba Outlets, an enormous outlet mall nestled in the middle of a mountain town. Anyone who knows me well knows that this was not my most exciting two hours spent but Deb certainly seemed in her element!
The 3rd stop on the tour was a cable car ride up Mt Hakone, an active volcano that last erupted in 2015. The cable car dropped us off at the steaming caldera, where we at black eggs (eggs boiled in volcanic water) that will supposedly lengthen our lives by 8 years. They were pretty cool and all but it just tasted like a hard boiled egg to me!
Our last stop was sailing on a Japanese Pirate Ship on Lake Ashi. It was a beautiful evening and the air was cool and the sky was blue.
Tomorrow we say goodbye to Japan and Jonah. I miss the rest of my family (not to mention my bed!) but it feels like we just got here!
Final thoughts on Japan:
- The train system is kinda a hot mess to navigate. Trains are often delayed (contrary to popular belief), usually because someone was on the tracks. Sometimes Google Maps didn't provide a platform number so that made it even more difficult. When it came to using our JR Passes it was better to use Navitime, but Navitime kinda stunk because it also didn't always show the platform, and then wouldn't show you the stops (which is how you know you're going the right direction). Google Maps was TERRIBLE for JR lines, but it was mostly good for everything else...
- The vending machines are awesome! They're a great place to use your change.
- Speaking of change, unlike US coins, Japanese change is actually useful. You can buy quite a bit with a 500 yen coin. It does, however, collect quickly, so whenever possible use the coins!
- While Japanese toilets are super cool, their toilet paper is terrible.
- Japanese public bathrooms often don't have soap in them. I don't know why, they just don't. Bring hand sanitizer. While you're at it, bring a hand towel as well - unless you're cool with wiping your hands on your pants.
- Most hotels have this little counter that contains all of your basic hygienic needs. It's actually super cool -- however, one thing they're missing is lotion. It's the one thing I kicked myself for not bringing.
- Japanese napkins at restaurants are really weird. They either literally use kleenex, or they have these weird waxy things that don't absorb at all. Sometimes, however, they have wet napkins that are really great!
- Prepare to walk and climb a LOT of stairs. Wear comfy shoes.
- The hotel beds in Japan are HARD. Like a box spring with a very thin mattress pad on it kind of hard. I brought my own pillow (thank God) but their pillows are also very hard. I'm a belly sleeper and my chest hurt when I woke up every morning.
- Trash cans are VERY hard to find. Bring a few little plastic bags to collect your trash and then dump them at a combini (or whenever you find the elusive trash cans)
- Japan has this weird thing where they don't like you to walk and eat at the same time. This would be great if they would provide seating, but it's actually difficult to find benches or seating areas. I was especially sensitive to this because my feet were REALLY hurting and I was constantly looking for a place to sit. They also frown upon sitting on stairs or anything like that. There is a lot of street food (which was amazing) but really nowhere to sit and eat it. They expected you to just scarf it down in front of the restaurant, I guess. It made me not want to buy as much street food as I would have.
- Don't expect to find a lot of hoodies. Maybe I just really love hoodies. I sure have a lot of them.
- When you get to the airport to leave, use up your Suica/Pasmo balance in the shops (they take that method of payment) or the vending machines. I bought a ton a snacks and threw them in my carry-on.
