Next up is the Izu Peninsula

September 17

During the night at the hotel, we experienced a tiny earthquake that lasted only a few seconds, but it was certainly a strange experience.

The next day, our time in Tokyo came to an end, and we set off on our journey to the next accommodation on the Izu Peninsula, located southwest of the capital. We thought we had figured out the train system by now, but things went awry that day. First, we boarded the wrong subway, which was going in the right direction but made so many stops that we missed our connecting train. Then we got on the wrong train again and had to transfer at the next station. Fortunately, we had sent our luggage from Tokyo to the next hotel; otherwise, it would have been really stressful.

We finally arrived at Hotel Hynodea around 1:30 PM. The Washington Hotel where we stayed in Tokyo was very Western, but this hotel, where we would spend the next two nights, was a traditional Japanese accommodation (Ryokan). Upon entering, you immediately remove your shoes and receive a light kimono (Yukata) to wear in the hotel. The room was furnished with tatami mats, and instead of a conventional bed, you sleep on laid-out futons on the floor.

First, however, we wanted to take a short trip to Mount Ōmuro, an extinct volcano that rises almost 600 meters above the coast and can be easily ascended by chairlift. From here, you could see additional volcanic peaks that, along with Ōmuro, shaped the landscape in the area. Thus, the once deep valleys filled with cooling lava transformed into habitable plains, and the coast turned into a rugged volcanic rock coastline (that’s where we’re headed tomorrow). The summit has been cleared annually for several hundred years, which is why it is only covered by annual plants. Since we were a bit late, the hotel owner kindly drove us to the mountain. The view was wonderful.

In the evening, we jumped into the hotel’s Japanese bath. Here, you thoroughly scrub yourself with soap before you are allowed to enter the quite hot water sparkling clean. After that, it was finally time to go to bed, or rather onto the futon.