Mt. Fuji and the Ryokan
Trip Start
May 08, 2006
1
5
9
Trip End
May 21, 2006
Yamanaka-Ko, Japan
Friday, May 12, 2006
It was run by a very nice man and woman who showed us around and to our room - which consisted of a low Japanese style table with cushions to sit on during the day and mats that were laid out on the floor while we were at dinner to sleep on. Luckily we had a table out on an enclosed patio where we played hours of Gin Rummy and read. We laughed at how much they could charge for this room, especially once we saw that we were going to be sharing it with a spider the size of a tarantula!
The highlight of the experience was the food! We ate dinner and breakfast there each day and the cute woman who didn't speak a lick of English would bring out a huge amount of food and try to explain to us how to eat it. We tried everything and got to have dishes we would have had no idea how to even order if we went to a restaurant. Some things, like an entire fish (head, fins...) were laid out in front of us, or the small whole candy covered fish, we probably would not have ordered, but it all played into the experience. The second night we had a dish we had seen many times called Shabu Shabu where you get some boiling water and cook the meat and vegetables yourself. It was the best meal we have had in Japan so far!
We also got to experience the Japanese onsen - the hot tub baths that are separate for men and women as you go in to them completely nude. Luckily, since we were the only people staying there, we each got to take a bath by ourselves - and of course used our robes and slippers that every hotel in Japan has provided for us.
We only caught one small glimpse of Mt. Fuji on the bus on the way out there. A very cute old Japanese women tapped me on the shoulder with a huge smile on her face pointing to Mt. Fuji. Apparently it is a rare sight as most of the year it is covered by clouds. But the lake we were staying on was beautiful and we were lucky enough to still have cherry blossoms out in full bloom on the trees.
