###**Part 3 – Days 13 – 17 (Kawaguchiko, Hakone, and our final days in Tokyo!)**
[Previous Post:](https://www.reddit.com/r/JapanTravel/comments/y0vq5w/trip_report_part_1_18_days_in_september_2022/? ) ERFS Information, arrival in Tokyo, Kanazawa, and Kyoto!
[Previous Post:](https://www.reddit.com/r/JapanTravel/comments/y0vqni/trip_report_part_2_18_days_in_september_2022/? ) Osaka, Hiroshima, Kamakura and Tokyo!
**Day 13 – Kawaguchiko (Accommodation – [Kozantei Ubuya](https://www.ubuya.co.jp/en/))**
Checking out of our hotel, we headed for Shinjuku station to take the bus out to Fuji. The rain was persistent, although not as heavy as the day before so we had to grab umbrellas for the trip after all. Thankfully, a 3COINS was setup inside of Shinjuku station, right by the exit we needed to use, and for exactly 3 coins each (or 300 yen, for those who aren’t familiar with the shop) we had suitable protection for the day.
The bus ride out was great. We were seated on the top floor of the 2-level bus, right in the front seats, so we had an excellent view of the mountains and forests ahead of us during the trip. We were also only 2 of maybe 5 people on the bus tops, so the ride was quiet with only 1 other person seated on the upper floor with us.
Arriving in Kawaguchiko, we locked up our bags and began our day at the [Yamanashi Gem Museum.](https://www.gemmuseum.jp/en/) I enjoy gemology as a pastime, and wanted to see some of the samples that the museum had on display. Afterwards, we moved onto the [Kubota Itchiku Art Museum](http://www.itchiku-museum.com/en.pdf) to enjoy the displays of handiwork on the kimono hung around the main hall. There is a 20 minute video in english that you can watch before entering the room, it provides a lot of history behind the artist himself, and his tsujigahana technique. Sadly, his dream of completing his works went unrealized, as he passed away in 2003 before it was completed.
The rain began coming down again just as we left the Museum, so we decided to cut our last stop, [the Music Forest](https://kawaguchikomusicforest.jp/), and just check in directly at the hotel instead to freshen up before our dinner.
Kozantei Ubuya is easily one of the best choices I made this trip. We stayed in a room with a private outdoor bath, a living room, and incredible dining for both dinner and breakfast the next morning. It was the beginning of a 3 day stretch of Too Much Food, as it was a kaiseki for dinner, then a large breakfast before our departure the next day to Hakone. Absolutely worth it, but if you plan on doing multiple ryokan and ryokan hotel in a row during your visit, be aware you will be VERY well fed from location to location.
(Spoiler: by the time we had breakfast at our ryokan in Hakone, I was unable to even finish the amount of food they gave us. Maybe I should have taken a longer walk after dinner?)
**Day 14 – Hakone (Accommodation – [Yamagaso](https://www.japaneseguesthouses.com/ryokan-single/Yamagaso/))**
Moving onto Hakone, one of the biggest mistakes I think I have ever made happened here.
When you Google instructions to get from [Kawaguchiko to Hakone](https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Kawaguchiko+Station,+Funatsu,+Fujikawaguchiko,+Yamanashi,+Japan/Hakone,+Ashigarashimo+District,+Kanagawa,+Japan/@35.4193944,139.1055078,10.46z/data=!4m15!4m14!1m5!1m1!1s0x60196082ba487757:0x4d9403afbe34b4ed!2m2!1d138.7688409!2d35.4982362!1m5!1m1!1s0x6019a20c60b2dc7b:0x2605bd17ac977b26!2m2!1d139.1069355!2d35.2323825!3e3!5i1), they may say you should go back to Tokyo from Mt Fuji by bus, and then take the train to Hakone-Yumoto Station instead.
Another option is to buy the [Fuji-Hakone Pass,](https://www.odakyu.jp/english/passes/fujihakone/) and take the *highway buses* from Kawaguchiko to Gotemba, then Gotemba onto Hakone Yumoto Station.
[A third option](https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Kawaguchiko+Station,+Funatsu,+Fujikawaguchiko,+Yamanashi,+Japan/Hakone,+Ashigarashimo+District,+Kanagawa,+Japan/@35.4193944,139.1055078,10.46z/data=!4m14!4m13!1m5!1m1!1s0x60196082ba487757:0x4d9403afbe34b4ed!2m2!1d138.7688409!2d35.4982362!1m5!1m1!1s0x6019a20c60b2dc7b:0x2605bd17ac977b26!2m2!1d139.1069355!2d35.2323825!3e3) is to take the *local bus* from Kawaguchiko to Gotemba, and then another *local Bus* from Gotemba to Hakone Yumoto Station.
**I am here to warn you that the third option, while inexpensive, is also dizzying and should be fully avoided if you get motion sick easily. Zoom in on the map linked above, and take a look at some of those twists and turns on the road between the two locations. Not. Fun. My partner can’t even recall this leg of the trip without getting nauseated.** It was one of the truly awful experiences of this trip, and I would not want to do it again if I can help it.
However, once we arrived in Hakone (and settled our stomachs), it was wonderful! Again, we locked up our bags at the station, did some light wandering in the town, and then (because the rain was light but relentless and annoying) headed to the ryokan a bit ahead of schedule to relax and enjoy the private building while we could.
The folks who run the ryokan are kind, and the location is perfect. Next to the river, which provides a beautiful view, but once you enter the gates of the grounds, you’re hidden in a garden among small houses with full amenities. There is a family bath on the ground, and guests of Yamagaso are also granted access to the rooftop rotenburo at the connected hotel – Senkei Plaza Inn. I ended up trying all three baths, taking a dip before dinner in the family bath, then visiting the rotenburo at Senkei after dinner, with the private bath being my morning soak as well.
The food was incredible. I mean, all of our kaiseki meals were excellent, but having it served in your room cannot be beat and it makes it so much easier to just flop over on the floor in sheer food satiety. When you leave a restaurant or the dining hall, you need to at least keep your composure until you get back to your room but with in-room dining, no such guilt or social contract exists. Heaven!
After dinner, we both rotated to and from the various baths. Only the Family Bath at the main ryokan allows both genders at the same time, and if you spot shoes outside the door it’s considered to be “in use” and you wait until there is nobody else in there to go in with your group. Other baths at the hotel are separated by gender, and the rotenburo is also blocked off to each gender at certain times of the day.
After choosing our morning breakfast time, we spent some time in the living room, drinking tea and watching Japanese game shows on TV before going to bed.
**Day 15 – Hakone and Tokyo (Accommodation – [Tosei Hotel Cocone Kuramae](https://tosei-hotel.co.jp/asakusakuramae/))**
The next morning, we had another massive breakfast – so big I was certain I was still full from the night before. I had to skip the rest of my omelette, and my partner barely finished his bowl of rice by the time they came to collect our dishes. I had one more soak in the bath in our private bathroom before we got dressed and took the shuttle back to town. Locking our bags away for the day, and the weather FINALLY with us, both rain and temperature-wise, we decided to do the loop of Hakone, taking the Pirate Ship to the Hakone Ropeway, to the Cable Car and down the Tozan Railway and back to Hakone-Yumoto Station. We’d stayed later at the ryokan to relax, so we weren’t able to fit much more into the day, although we attempted to get to Odawara Castle before it closed – but it just wasn’t meant to be.
Instead, we grabbed some bento, and hopped on the RomanceCar back to Tokyo, so we could prepare ourselves for our last few days before returning home.
**Day 16 – Tokyo (Accommodation – [Tosei Hotel Cocone Kuramae](https://tosei-hotel.co.jp/asakusakuramae/))**
Ah, the weather. Finally fully with us as the air had cooled to bearable levels, making it easier to walk around without breaking into a heavy sweat – as had been the norm over the past 15 days. Since the sky was blue and the weather was clear, I knew I wanted to visit some gardens while I had the chance, and my partner wanted to spend his day doing some of his shopping in Kappabashi for more kitchenwares, and eventually meet up with some friends in Tokyo before we all got together for drinks in the evening. I headed out to Shinjuku Gyoen for a literal walk in the park, then over to Meiji Shrine, before again spending time (and money) shopping in Omotesando and Ginza. Cafes, Stationery, and window shopping were a great end to a great trip for me.
**Day 17 – Tokyo – Final Day (Accommodation – [Tosei Hotel Cocone Kuramae](https://tosei-hotel.co.jp/asakusakuramae/))**
We checked out of Tosei early, and went to lock up our bags at Hamamatsucho Station so we could collect them easily before going to the airport. Our flight wasn’t departing until almost 8pm, so we had the whole day to do some last things before we left – mailing cards to friends and family, some last minute sushi in Tsukiji, exploring and soaking in Ameyokocho where we decided to have lunch, and then we were on the train back out to Haneda Airport. 3 hours in the lounge before boarding, with all the food and drink we wanted, but again I found myself restless and got up to pace the airport a bit before our flight left. Many things at the gates are still very closed up, so if you’re able to buy snacks before you cross the Immigration, make sure you do so as you might have a harder time finding selection once you’ve gotten to the gate.
We boarded exactly at 8pm, and settled into our business seats back to LAX on ANA, where one more overnight at a hotel awaited before we were finally home.
###**Mistakes Were Made! – Final Edition**
If you read all the way through, I bet you can already pinpoint the final batch of mistakes made!
>- **Not Paying Attention To Directions.**: I’m speaking specifically here of the directions to go back to Tokyo in order to return to Hakone, or not buying the Fuji-Hakone Pass to use the highway buses to get to Hakone. Yes, it’s technically slower to go back to Tokyo. Yes, the Fuji Hakone Pass is more expensive than local buses. Yes, we made an awful mistake by doing it anyway, and my partner almost lost his lovely hotel breakfast on the bus to prove a point. *If you have motion sickness, don’t take the local lines between Kawaguchiko and Hakone.* If the conventional wisdom is to use one of the other two far more recommended routes between locations, think critically, and maybe just follow that wisdom. Speaking of wisdom…
>- **Not Everything is a Daytrip.**: I regret the following Daytrips – Kanazawa, Hiroshima, Kamakura, Kawaguchiko, and Hakone. Why? Because they should have been at least 2 full days each. I made a big mistake in assuming that the areas listed were small enough to easily hop around, that the locations we wanted to visit were close to each other (ESPECIALLY in Kanazawa and Hakone, they are both bigger than they look on a map), and that we would be able to fit in more than 2-3 locations in each place with little issue. The weather was not on our side in all of those cities, in some cases we were beaned by our own poor planning or late sleeping – and all of them deserved more time than we gave them. Lessons have been learned, and next trip is going to be a minimum of two nights in each of those locations, period.
>- **We Were Beaten By Our Own Planning**: On top of not giving everything enough time, we didn’t really consider how long it would take us to get places. 2-1/2 hours between Kawaguchiko and Hakone is not a long trip, but also a ton of time if you leave at 9am. Some buses we waited for were actually behind schedule, and we ended up losing precious time waiting for them as well. Lots of ambition, but not a lot of forethought this time all combined to put a bit of a damper on our trip. Finally…
>- **We Should Have Had Separate Days Earlier In The Trip**: I touched on this a bit during our attempted night out at Gonpachi – but we should have given ourselves permission to do things alone a bit more often. My partner definitely got dragged around by me to go shopping far more than he would have normally, nd once it became clear that we weren’t going to be actively checked up on by JGA or the Government while on the ERFS, we should have just begun planning our own stops more often. While it’s great to have him as my travel buddy, he’s not my duplicate and he doesn’t need to do everything I like to do all the time. Next trip should be more normal though, so hopefully we can both have our trip and enjoy our days together and apart more freely.
**Thank you for your time, and I hope these posts, as late as they were, were of some help when it comes to planning your own trip – if you learn by example anyway!**