In Hakone today, we had the traditional breakfast again (a different version, though, with smoked salmon). We took the train, the ropeway, the cable car again…. The weather was fantastic, so it was a great day to be outside. Mount Fuji was covered in clouds, so we didn’t get to see more than its lower slopes.

After our lunch break, we unfortunately spent a little too much time on the bus – we took a long awaited bus going in the wrong direction…

We went back to Lake Ashi, hiked along the lake until Moto-Hakone and took the Pirate ship again.

Relaxing and beautiful day!

Diner was at a nice restaurant nearby, Alice joined us!

This morning we had a very traditional Japanese breakfast. I’m not too keen about fish and pickles at 8am – on the other hand it’s nice to see what they eat for breakfast… and there was coffee, so I survived.

We all took the bus to the Lake Ashinoko and the ropeway up the mountain. then the pirate boat to Motohakone.

Had lunch there and continued to Kowakidani by bus. Bus is pretty expensive (for Japan, not for Norway) so we quickly found out that the 2-day pass was worth it. Hakone is a beautiful area, with some volcanic activity – we could smell the sulphuric fumes when at the top of the ropeway.

In the evening, we ate at a restaurant near the hotel, delicious grilled Japanese beef. We watched Scotland vs Samoa on TV back at the hotel.

Oh and while we were waiting to board the ropeway this morning we met Alice, who I worked with in the last few months, with the Norwegian women’s team – see g.evryw.com 🙂

It was completely unexpected, and in the most random place as well. She joined us for the day. Nice to get travel companions, share experiences and tips.

We left Atami for Hakone this morning. We took a train, another train, and another train 🙂

We dropped the luggage at the hotel and went for lunch at a nearby restaurant. Tim, Karl and I left the group to attend the Australia-Wales game in Tokyo. A great game of rugby again – we’re lucky – ending with the close victory of Wales.

We came back quite late, enjoyed a onsen – we’re getting used to it. Our hotel is from 1630, it is a beautiful building, with nice room, next to a river.

Saturday is a rugby day! Today is our first Rugby World Cup game, between the host nation Japan and Ireland, the #1 nation on the rankings.

We got woken up by the sunrise over the bay, enjoyed a continental breakfast in the hostel dining room. The kids played Nintendo while the parents were planning the trip to the stadium.

We took the local train, a bit longer but we had plenty of time and it’s much cheaper. The Hools took the Shinkansen. We’re traveling with a strange family, all dressed in green colors 😏.

We had an unexpected train stop due to an accident on the tracks, in a small place, where we waited more than an hour. Then we jumped onto an overcrowded train filled with strange people also dressed in green. We got good help underway from Japanese rugby fans, who would translate and patiently explain everything to us.

We headed to the Ecopa stadium and watched our first game in Japan. And what a game it was!!! Legendary. Japan was behind until the 59th minute, scored a converted try, a beautiful one. The atmosphere in the stadium was unbelievable! Nippon, Nippon!! With great defense work they got a penalty, increased their lead to 7 points, and held this until the end. Amazing game, great rugby from Japan!

Going back to the hotel after the game was more of a challenge. But what a privilege it was to be at that game. We had built our trip around it, we were expecting a good game – it turned out to be magic!

Tomorrow is Wales-Australia for the 3 fathers only! It wasn’t on the initial plan but we got the occasion to buy tickets a few weeks ago. The rest of the families will relax in Hakone, our next stop.

We’ve left Kyoto at noon, on the Shinkansen! Next stop Atami, south of Tokyo.

We all enjoyed a late morning, but transferring and getting in the Shinkansen was a bit of a rush.

The kids spent the trip making origamis, playing or even writing a blog – well done Ciara.

The parents enjoyed the relaxing atmosphere on the train.

So that’s it for Kyoto! A vibrant, busy city. We stayed 4 days – 4 busy days – but it feels like we could have stayed another week – there is so much to see there. Museums, temples, shrines, but also all the small streets where we would connect to the local life – school kids with the uniforms and strangely shaped backpacks, older people, families, all nice and helpful at all time, whenever we needed help. As a kid, I’d watch Japanese cartoons (as we called them at the time) – the streets of Kyoto reminded me of what these animes would depict.

We arrived at Atami mid-afternoon, grabbed a snack and checked in at our hotel. Fantastic view over the Sagami bay!

We went for a late walk on the beach and diner downtown.

The reviews were not very engaging, but we still took the chance and went to the Manga museum. It’s a very nice museum, actually, for all ages. It’s quite big, with different rooms, exhibitions, activities and thousands of manga books – in Japanese but also in other languages.

There were schools visiting that day, it was very lively. Also the museum is located in an old elementary school, that’s nice in itself – it makes a special atmosphere. While there, we attended a traditional street show, Kamishibai, the ancestor of TV as the comedian presented it. We all got small presents for our good answers. The kids drew manga at a computer station. All in all a nice experience for the family.

We had lunch at a nearby McDonald’s – I know it sounds strange, but it was a promise made to Hugo a few weeks’ back.

Sarah went with the Harper girls to the Kyoto Handicraft Center where they learnt to paint Japanese fans.

With the boys, we went to the Nanzen-ji temple, on the east side of town. It was a very relaxing time, in a beautiful and peaceful place, in the shadow of both the forest and the mountains – the word ‘Zen’ fits perfectly to describe the place. The walk from and back the bus stop was also nice, through rich or less rich neighborhoods, but all very Japanese in their own way.

We finally met everyone at diner, at a typical sushi restaurant with a conveyor belt and a Shinkansen train for special orders.