Stood up in Gion

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We loved everything about the Hotel Senkei except for the sleeping. The mattresses were too thin for us and we could feel the floor below. It was quite uncomfortable. But the rest of the experience in this little ryokan was superb. We opted for the western breakfast this morning rather than the Japanese one. We went to a little diner style restaurant and were served our food. Justin has missed his coffee as the ryokan only served tea. Rebecca ordered for us and did a good job of making herself understood. We then checked out of the ryokan and waited a few minutes for their shuttle bus to take us back to the station. When we were ready to go - our maid was waiting in the driveway to wave us off. All the women who looked after the guests that were living lined the driveway bowing and waving as we left. It was a nice touch and another thing about Japan I like.
It was an overcast day but had rained quite heavily during the night. It was warm and less humid than Tokyo. We stored our baggage at the station for a reasonable price and started out on the Hakone loop. We had bought the Hakone free loop pass which works for 2 consecutive days, the day before. It is quite a good way to travel around the area. All modes of transport are covered. The first leg is on a small railway to Gora. It had two small carriages and wound its way up the mountain zig zagging and stopping to provide photo opportunities. Pity it was still a bit foggy. But it was beautiful to be in the bushland area. Everything was so green and many hydrangeas were in bloom. At Gora we parted company with Justin who took the train back a few stops to the Hakone Outdoor museum of art, where he spent some time and would meet up with us later. Bec and I continued the loop with the next thing being a cable car trip to the top of another mountain village. The next leg was a gondola ropeway up and over another area Owakundani. On a clear day you can see Mt Fuji from this area and whilst day was clearer than yesterday Mt Fuji remained hidden from sight. It was still an enjoyable time. At the base of the mountain we were due to take the pirate ship across the lake and then finally the bus back to our point of origin. However, we had just missed one boat and the next one did not leave for another ½ hour. This was going to make our schedule a bit too tight so we abandoned the loop at this stage and opted for a bus ride through the country side back to the station at Hakone Yumoto. There were a few minutes for some souvenir shopping and it was time to meet Justin, collect our bags and head to Odawara to book our tickets on the 2.09pm shinkansen to Kyoto.
Lunch at Odawara was on the run at Hakone Bakery. We made our shinkansen with a few minutes to spare. Trains really have been running to their schedule times so you can depend on them. Country side sped past us and the 430km journey took just on 2 hours. More rice paddies and I am amazed at how close to the tracks some dwellings are.
It was raining when we got to Kyoto so we abandoned our plans to walk to our Ryokan - Matsubaya inn. Found a taxi and showed him the way we were going to walk and we were there in a jiffy. Checked in and was shown our room and how everything worked. Internet on two computer terminals in the Ryokan.
We were scheduled to meet our private guide at 6pm on the eastern side of the Shijo bridge in Gion for a walking tour of the area. It was a rush for us and Bec had to check our directions with some random people but we made it to the bridge in time in the pouring rain. We waited for ½ hour and rang his mobile x 2 but left messages on his voicemail. No show. So disappointed, at least I had not paid him. We walked around the main street in Gion - saw a couple of geisha and had a nice dinner. But we didn’t really know which area we should explore. Then Bec shopped in a couple of department stores and hailed a taxi to take us to our new home for the next few days. This ryokan is close to the station and should be a good base for us. We have to roll out our own futon and pack it up again in the morning. Should be fun (not!)

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Photos

View from the cable car
Beautiful scenery but Mt Fuji was not to be seen today