![\"IMG_0688\"](\"http:\/\/gordonandjudy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/IMG_0688.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nThe bus travels halfway up the mountain to the 5th<\/sup> station. Any further up requires a hike. It\u2019s fogged in, damp, and slightly cold. We\u2019re not dressed for cold mountain weather. It\u2019s a nice break from the heat and humidity at lower elevations. Back at the bottom of the mountain, we eat a nice Japanese lunch before heading back out on the afternoon section of the tour.<\/p>\n The next stop is Hakone. It\u2019s a touristy town similar to Ruidoso, with lots of vacation homes. We take a cable car up a mountain, come over a ridge, and swing out over a hot springs area. There are springs everywhere, and sulpher extraction spots. The sulpher is extracted, and the hot water is piped down the hill to dozens of hotels\/resorts that don\u2019t have their own hot spring. Soaking in a hot spring is the prime draw for this area, and a hotel without a hot spring wouldn\u2019t survive.<\/p>\n At the bottom of the hill we board a ferry for a short cruise across Mt. Ashi. It\u2019s a small natural mountain lake. It\u2019s supposed to have tremendous views of Mt. Fuji, but again, \u201cshe\u2019s shy.\u201d Denny’s is everywhere.<\/p><\/div>\n Rice is growing everywhere.<\/p><\/div>\n After the cruise, back on our bus, we travel to Odowara, where we unload at the train station. It\u2019s \u201cbullet train\u201d time! There are 8 of us going to Kyoto. The other 28 people and our guide head back to Tokyo. A tour rep meets us and takes us to the platform where we meet our train. We arrive early,\u00a0\u00a0 sitting quietly talking, and suddenly a train roars through, and I mean \u201croars\u201d through. It goes through so fast it took us a minute to process what happened. A few minutes later another goes through the same way, going in the other direction. Apparently these are \u201cExpress Trains\u201d that stop at only a few of the largest stations. Check out the short movie link I attached.<\/p>\n https:\/\/www.dropbox.com\/s\/q1u2g3whuxtptst\/Bullet%20Train.MOV<\/a><\/p>\n Finally our train arrives and we board in a hurry (the doors don\u2019t stay open long). The cabin is roomy and comfortable. When the train starts rolling, it\u2019s hard to believe we\u2019re going over 200mph. It\u2019s so smooth. In Kyoto, we\u2019re met by another tour rep. She walks us out and puts us in a pre-paid taxi for the trip to our hotel. This is much different than the small Beijing taxis. These are much bigger and the passenger doors open with a switch the driver controls. Drivers are dressed in black suits with white shirt and tie, and wearing white gloves.<\/p>\n The Okura Hotel Kyoto is an old, established hotel with lots of style and tradition. It\u2019s a real contrast to our Tokyo hotel. The room is large and we\u2019re asleep really quickly. It\u2019s been a long day.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" We eat early and begin the walk to meet our tour for the day. We left some luggage stored at the hotel. We\u2019re coming back here Sunday night, but each of us has a small bag for our two nights … Continue reading <\/a> <\/a> <\/a><\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a> <\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/p>\n