Luggage arrived just as we were checking out of the Khao-san guest house to head for the train. Shit they’re heavy. What did we need all this stuff for anyway? We’ve actually been managing just fine for the past four days.
First thing to do was to validate the Japan Rail passes, then we could hop on the bullet train down towards Mount Fuji. In fact it wasn’t quite as exciting as that, it was two Metros, a regular local train and a regular long distance train to get to Kawaguchiko. Yes, for the record, this was my idea. Kawaguchiko is a quiet little town in the mountains – it’s basically the Aviemore of Japan. The weather was a bit drearier down this way as well, so it was a welcome change from the sweaty madness of Tokyo. Hostel was nice too, a bit more old skool – shoes off at the door, sushi breakfast, that sort of thing.
As it was quite apparent there wasn’t much else to do in Kawaguchiko, we headed out for dinner to a Japanese BBQ restaurant, about a mile up the road. Sitting on the floor around the hot coals, the waiter brings out a selection of meat, fish and veg for you to cook yourself. He gave us a quick rundown of how to do it – grill it, dip it in the Teryaki sauce, grill it some more, eat it. His last instruction, however, was most unexpected.
“For fish, wait until stop moving”
I looked down at the plate, sure enough the little bugger was still alive. An eight-inch rainbow trout skewered from head to tail – both head and tail still wagging in protest. Delicious with a bit of Soy Sauce in the end though.
The evening’s second installment of Japanese culture came courtesy of a traditional Onsen bath. Instead of having individual showers in the Ryokan, all they have is a large, communal, very hot bath, preceded by a quick shower. A bit like the showers at the swimming baths only you’re not allowed to keep your trunks on and you have to sit on a little stool while your getting washed.
In comparison to the hostel in Tokyo, the Kawaguchiko Station Inn was absolute luxury!