Day 5, Wednesday, May 16th: Taxi from Hell?

We both wake up around 05:00 and our room is bright with the early morning sun coming in through the east-facing window. No complaints about sleep as I probably fell asleep pretty quickly around 23:00 and slept through the night. We turn on the air conditioner to cool our apartment then we finish our blog for yesterday and post.

We are off to Mount Fuji area this morning. Our itinerary is to take a Shinkansen (bullet train) to Mishima and then pick up rental car near the train station and drive to our Airbnb condo located in the Hakone-Mashi area. We figure out plans for the remainder of the day although we are wanting to hike on the mountain. The weather forecast is for mid-twenties so that is very encouraging. We have one night booked and then on to Tokyo Thursday.

Some anxiety over the location of our Sengokuhara Airbnb condo location. As usual, the host has not provided an exact address. Perhaps, it is impossible to have an exact address in these parts of Japan? What the ____! Lana manages to "reverse-engineer" the location based an map image with some landmarks provided by our host Vickie. She's fairly confident she has tagged the building we need to get to--let's hope the GPS finds a route when we get there--I guess we'll see what transpires?

We are out the door around 08:00 and pulling our luggage towards Shijo JR station. Problem is once we arrive via an elevator down into a corner of the station we both forgot that we were not at Kyoto Station yet. Jet lag? Anyway, we speak with a JR employee and catch the subway two stops to Kyoto Station. Our Kodoma 642 Shinkansen train is scheduled to depart at 09:08. Excellent signs once we arrive at Kyoto Station and we get to the Shinkansen ticket agent quite quickly and purchase our two tickets to Mishima train station. Total cost is 21,160Yen for one way ticket for the two of us. Seats in the Unreserved car are cheaper and thank goodness it is non-smoking.

We find a Shinkansen Waiting Room and are seated by 08:30. Lots of businessmen waiting in their nice suits. We will need to get on a car from 1 to 7 as they are non-reserved seating. Lana heads out to buy us some lunch for later. At platform 12 there is a queue line (of course) and we are in the front. Train pulls up about 3 minutes before departure time and we find Row 4 (3 seats free) and I put my luggage in a rack above. Lana's suitcase is between the two of us on the floor. This Shinkansen stops at many stations before our Mishima station and it will arrive at 11:45.

Sunny day as we rocket along the tracks. Fencing along both sides of the tracks. The train gently sways when it reaches top speed. No free wifi. Many rice farms in the countryside areas. Lana is doing her sudokus and listening to her music. Pretty much the same for me. The first major urban station we stop at is Nagoya. The toilets are North American style. Of course with this being Japan our train arrives exactly on time! The Japanese train system puts even the Germans to shame with its timeliness.

Internet photo of Mount Fuji

Map of Mount Fuji surrounding area

Our Kodoma Shinkansen arriving on platform 12 Kyoto Station - pretty space age looking! The platforms have your queue line indicated so you stand in proper order. No queue jumping possible here. 

 Back of the seat - excellent information for Japanese and English speakers alike

Lana with her contraband (Rice Krispie Square) treat that she is saving!!!

The Mishima station is not too big compared to larger urban centres, but it is really busy. We can already feel the difference as this is not a large metropolis like Osaka and Kyoto. The reason I picked Mishima was it was close to Mount Fuji area and the car rental agencies are very close to the station. We don't see the Toyota Car Rental sign so cross the street to another car rental agency and they graciously point us in the right direction. Not too far away...

We head into the office and are welcomed quickly. I provide my documentation regarding the reservation. The girl asks for my passport and "international drivers license?" I provide my BC drivers license and my passport. Some time goes by and she makes some phone calls and consults with other staff and advises she can't rent a car to me as I do not have an International Drivers License. News to me as their website did not mention that prerequisite when I booked online many weeks ago! Yikes, we have no car and our Airbnb condo is quite a distance from the train station. Plus, very difficult to get to Mount Fuji without a vehicle. 

Lana checks the prices for taking the bus to our Airbnb destination of Sengokuhara neighbourhood and it is around 7,000Yen. We walk to the taxi stand and the older driver doesn't speak English. I give him my paper showing the Airbnb 'address' and he is confused. Eventually, a station guy comes over and speaks with the driver. He says the taxi driver can find it and it will be around 9,000Yen. Lana believes it is about a 35 minute drive. We decide to take the taxi. I have a bad feeling though as we pull away!

Yikes, the taxi driver really doesn't have a clue. Within about two minutes driving he has pulled over and checking his GPS. Lana has her Google Maps activated so she can check his progress against what her app shows as the proper direction. This will come in handy later. The taxi driver calls his office. Punches in something into his GPS and then off we go. He speaks no English and we don't speak Japanese. I have a worse feeling about this. He is super slow and jerky. Where is he taking us and why isn't it consistent with Lana's Google Map directions??!!!???

Traffic passing us and he seems to be following his GPS and heading in the general direction of Nakone which is good. Again, so slow and can't easily navigate curves or corners without being all over the place. I am getting super stressed by not knowing if we are going to make it to our Airbnb condo and then how much this will eventually cost. We now know we won't make it to Mount Fuji. We are just hoping we make it the Airbnb condo. We end up behind a bus although the bus moves much faster.

We are near a lake and definitely do a lot of climbing in a mountain area. Then gradually drop down and beside the same huge lake. Lana is pretty good with this uncertainty and driving, but not me. He misses at least two places where we should have diverted. There comes a time when his GPS stops working and Lana holds her phone with the Google Map image for the taxi driver. We motion him to keep going straight and then to make turns. Yikes! I am certain though he is equally as stressed as us. We find the road where we need to turn left, but he drives past it. He then puts the car in reverse to back up to the street to turn left.

We drive up a long and steep incline where there are houses and some apartments/condos. Lana thinks we are close and we ask him to stop. This is an hour after we left the train station. Phew! The taxi cost us 10,040Yen which equates to $117CDN for the taxi ride. Easily the most we have ever paid for a taxi ride but Lana reminds me that we really have no other option to get to our apartment.  

We must be close, but we still don't know as we don't have an address nor do some of the homes have numbered addresses. We walk downhill first and then walk uphill. With some of the landmarks in the host's photos we finally located Condo #2 complex and 2-203 condo number. We figure out the combo and how to actually unlock the lock box hanging from the door knob and we are in!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yeh!

Taxi Driver --- remember the movie?

This final Airbnb experience in Japan has ensured we will never book another Airbnb in Japan. We are 0 for 3 in terms of ease of finding the apartment/condo. It looks like hotels from here when in Japan--much easier to find and less stressful. 

We are paying a fair amount of money for this Airbnb and it is beautiful and spacious! The dining room area is the same size as the entire two last apartments we rented!!! It is a condo nestled among the trees and on the side of a mountain. Two huge bedrooms, living room, patio off living room, tv set, couches, chairs and beautiful hardwood floors. The bathroom is gigantic compared to the last two places. Kitchen is much larger and it has a washer that can also dry clothes. Dining area with a patio off the dining area. Lots of room here and a North American style bed. Lana says yayyy about the bed and comments that her knees will stop making popping noises as she is getting in and out of bed now LOL!!

Entrance to our Airbnb condo

Deluxe Bedroom 

Front Room (partial picture)

Kitchen

Dining area/Patio 

More traditional bedroom--been there done that, time for a real bed again!!

Window outlook from bathtub and shower

No I am not obsessed with toilets, but you have probably heard of the Japanese high tech toilets and this is an example. 

This condo comes with a Geisha in the living room!

We are in our place so that eases off some stress. It is a beautiful sunny day here but very windy and cloudy so no chance of seeing Mount Fuji. With no vehicle we are handicapped with getting around this rural area. There is a bus that runs along the main road and Vickie (host) has some information on that. We decide to pick the least stressful way of getting back to the Mishima train station tomorrow and that is with a taxi. The only other option is taking a couple of buses and I am thinking that could be far worse and not that much cheaper.

Our host Vickie is really good about responding to emails. We have two free coupons to a local onsen courtesy of our host, but her instructions indicate "no tattoos are allowed as a general rule." Both Lana and I have tattoos. I check with her on this and she indicates no chance of us using the onsen. We have used an onsen in Tokyo in the past and our tattoos weren't a problem. I know that in Japan a tattoo usually signifies Yakuza (criminal gang banger). Maybe that is the reason?

OK, next hurdle is asking Vickie to organize a taxi to pick us up tomorrow morning at 09:30 to take us back to Mishima train station. Sounds like an easy request? Yup, she can do that... I ask her if the taxi will pick us up at her condo and of course they can't. They won't be able to figure out where we will be (my speculation). Instructions from her to meet "but you have to go to the ichi no yu(一の湯) which is at the head of the small road.The taxi will wait for you there."

Yup, this isn't helpful. There is no head of a small road here. Next email is for us to meet at the local onsen down the hill which is the place that won't take us because we have tattoos. There is a real irony in this. Anyway, we are grateful and appreciative that Vickie can organize this so we can return tomorrow morning to the station and make our way to Tokyo. Lana is napping as she is pretty tired. We will walk into town and find a place to eat tonight. Much cooler here in the higher elevation and the mountains/lake below. Around 19 degrees in the late afternoon. Lana is loving being back in a North American style bed. 

We do a load of laundry as it is unlikely we will have much opportunity for laundry once in our Tokyo hotel. Lana figures it out as all dials are in Japanese. Challenge is figuring out how to switch the washer to the dryer mode? There is a device on the patio where we can hang our clothes to dry. Given it is windy and chillier than expected our clothes won't dry in time for leaving tomorrow morning. Later in the night Lana has a great idea. She has turned on the heater underneath the Japanese style dining table and is using that to dry some of our things!!!  She has her moments :)

Lana's idea of drying clothes under the Japanese style dining table.

Lunch for today that we purchased at Kyoto Station. On the left is beef and pork stir fry with eggy stuff on rice. On the right is a bento box of rice, potato, pickles, chicken meatballs, salmon, egg omelet, different vegetables, pieces of yam tempura etc. We ate the lunch at the small table beside the dining area patio. Both boxes were pretty good and satisfied our appetites. 

Our host has a pretty good map of the local eateries and how long a walk is to each place. We have some good choices. Downhill walk to the main road through the trees and residential buildings. After you get to the road turn right and then about five minutes walk into the small town. First stop is the 7-Eleven for some water and food for breakfast tomorrow. Plus, my turn to withdraw 50,000Yen. We check out a couple of potential places to eat, but decide to eat Korean BBQ at Kyon Bokkun Restaurant. 

Same seating style as last night. This place has free wifi! When you are seated they bring a tablet to your table as that is how you will order your meal. The meal is excellent and again we are so impressed with the quality and taste of the beef dish. Lana orders a "lettuce salad" which is simply a plate of lettuce that you can use to wrap your meat inside of with a fantastic Korean soy bean paste for extra flavour. We enjoyed the meal and the experience of ordering using a tablet. Also, we will grill our meat. We order a large bowl of rice. Total cost of meal = 4,838Yen. 

Tablet used to make your order from the many pages of choices. 

Randy orders a Suntory Malted Beer and Lana a Grape sour.

On the top is a plate of boneless short ribs with salt & pepper and the bottom is "fatty pork".

We are grilling our meat!

This squid was delicious and Lana ensured it was perfectly grilled. 

Walk back to our room. It is now very dark, but we feel safe walking along the desolate road as we are in Japan. Some other countries we may not be safe. We still do not know the name of the town we just visited? We know this is Kanagawa Prefecture. The area is Hakone-machi. Also, the general area of Ashigarashimo-Gun. The area is known as Sengokuhara and that is pretty much it. I googled our Korean restaurant and can't find it!

Our stats for walking today aren't too impressive. We did almost 8000 steps and around 5.5 kms. Three floors of elevation. Very quiet here on the side of a mountain in the trees. Not many people around either.