Another picture from the past. Two years ago today, we left Tokyo and headed off to the tourist area of Hakone Yamoto. Here, we stayed in a traditional Japanese ryokan (B&B) for a night, experiencing the "real" Japan -- complete with tatami mat rooms, futons, outdoor hot springs for bathing, and a maid to serve us our meals. And it was an experience. We were the only non-Japanese guests, and I was terrified of offending everyone else with unintentional breaches of etiquette, particularly when bathing in the springs. The robes (yusaka) were far too short for PJ; he couldn't get his (not abnormally large) feet into the slippers; and he kept gouging his head on the doorway into our room -- amusing, until you saw the blood and bruises. However, the dinner was amazing:
Breakfast, not so much. Pickled octopus (a specialty of the area and quite unbelievably disgusting), green tea, rice, and dried mackerel are appealing as a concept when you're flicking through a travel guide, but less so at 7.30 in the morning. After we left the hotel, we sloped off to the nearest 7-11 for a strong coffee and some chocolate buns, feeling that we had violated the code of ethics of the Lonely Planet community.
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