To get up to the top of the mountain, we took a little train that putted along doing switchbacks up part of the mountain. Then a cable car that seems like a train but goes up a hillside. On the train and cable car, I was able to see the countryside and it was beautiful. Mountains upon mountains filled with trees, some of which were just beginning to change colors to yellows and reds. I was able to see more “akai” (red) leaves from the cable car. Wow – Japanese maples in red are beautiful! A whole hillside must be incredible.
A Japanese woman on the car cable car ride talked to me and said she thought it would be about another 2 weeks before it was prime leaf-pepping time. This was the only Japanese woman who spoke to me the whole trip. A lovely older woman there to see the fall colors with her husband and daughter. She spoke great English and asked me lots of questions. When I mentioned that I was from San Francisco, she said she had been there. And then she tried to find the English words to say that she’d seen gay men on her trip to SF. I could understand what she was trying to get at and said, “You mean 2 men together”? Yes, that’s what she meant. Funny how that stood out for her on her visit to California. Interesting to find out what we’re known for in other parts of the world.
Anyway, I digress. The last leg of the journey up the mountain is something called a ropeway which is a single car moving along a cable line attached to the roof of the car. Right as we reached the summit of the mountain, it was all foggy. All the other ropeway cars disappeared as well as the hills and ground below. We joked that we were in heaven.
So the view wasn’t great, but we had a nice lunch at the summit and trouped back down the mountain (ropeway, cable car, and train) to Hakone.
Chie and Donald went to see the Toy Museum, and we went for our last temple walk, which turned out to be a hike after all. The hike to the temple took us on a small paved road straight up the hillside through the forest. It was beautiful but a killer hike. I finally gave up at a nice scenic viewpoint and let the brothers continue on up the hill. I sat on a bench, looked at the hills, saw clouds from the hot springs in the area on the hillside, and just listened to the animals as it grew dark. I have become much better at just sitting and noticing everything on this trip. I need to remember to continue to “be in the moment” more. It’s very relaxing.
We walked back to the hotel in the dark, just as it started to rain again. Time for another hot spring soak or “teacup time”, as we started to call it!
1 comment:
I take it that you guys didn't see Mount Fuji in all her glory then. Leaves changing season in Japan should be around the time you guys were there. It must be a late fall season that delay it.
After my first trip ever to SF, my main topic was the Castro scene to all my friends and co-workers in Anchorage. I had a rapt audience too as some of my buddies were talking about "target rich environment". Its a shockers to an average tourist.
You are not in heaven until you see some pandas. Just ask Dennis.
It sounds like you had a pretty good time despite of the poor weather conditions.
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