Hiratsuka

We spent Igor's 30th bday doing what he loves most - riding trains. We started on the local Tokyo subway lines to get to Shinagawa station. From there it was all aboard the high speed Shinkansen from Tokyo to Nagoya - it hit about 140 mph! Even though the majority of the morning had been gloomy, the sun peaked out just enough for us to see Mt. Fuji through the clouds.

In Nagoya we transferred to our slower train, going about the same distance but 1/3 the speed. We are headed to Kumano in the Kii peninsula. Very much off the beaten path.

This train ride starts through a more industrial part of Japan until about half way through when it becomes a mountainous ride along the coast - very beautiful! The water is crystal clear along the coast and the mountains are covered in towering trees.

We arrived at Kumanoshi station around 4 - we had a bit of a snafu with the taxi driver (poor guy). He only spoke Japanese and we only know how to say thank you... He was there from the resort to pick us up but we expected a shuttle.. as such, we thought he was trying to scam us into paying for a ride. I'm sure such an assumption is very rude given that everyone we've met has been incredibly nice and helpful. Anyway, it got all figured out and we made it to the resort!

We're staying at the Resort Kumano Club - definitely my favorite place so far! It is up in the mountains, surrounded by stunning views. Almost everyone there spoke only Japanese and we definitely stood out - but again, everyone was very very nice and didn't seem to mind our obvious lack of knowledge of Japan or Japan customs.

We finished the evening with the included dinner - 6 courses and unbelievably tasty. I could spend an hour describing the food but to just give an example, the sashimi course was freshly caught that day from a town close by. After dinner we enjoyed the open bar (also included) and had some fruit wines, sake, and shochu.Read more