Solo Japan Part V: Atami
Day 6: Atami
Another morning train ride - this time to Atami!
I'll be honest, I'm not sure exactly what made me go there. I think I was clicking around on Google maps and stumbled across it. It looked really lovely and wasn't a very far/expensive trip so I decided to have a go. ^ ^
Atami's another city famous for its onsens (Japanese hot springs/spas) like Hakone. I didn't really have any onsen-related plans this time, but I knew it was near the beach and I had never been to a Japanese beach before.
Being here reminded me of the "Mackerel in the Morning" episode of Samurai Gourmet. (Samurai Gourmet is a show on Netflix about a retired salaryman and his daily search for food. I highly recommend it. ^ ^)
After a long train ride, I was hungry. And for some reason, I had spaghetti on the brain. I don't know if it was because I had been eating a lot of convenience store food or just missed Western cuisine in general, but I found a little rooftop cafe and treated myself to a lunch special. It was a cream soup, spaghetti with crab, a small salad, pannacotta for dessert and an iced coffee.
What I didn't think about when sitting outside though, was that I was near the beach and it was windy. Turns out, beach wind affects the movement of food on plates. Luckily my soup and pasta were ok, but before I knew it, my salad was blowing off of my plate and flying into the air! I tried to eat it faster thinking it was just a single gust of wind but it didn't stop and I lost almost half of my salad to the sidewalk below > <
After taking a salad shower, I walked down to the beach. It was really calming and quiet and reminded me a lot of the beaches in my beloved city of Busan (in South Korea where I lived at the time).
I wish the weather was warmer because I would've definitely set up camp near the water to do some drawing and people watch.
After walking around a bit, I finally got to my guesthouse and it was equally as charming as the rest of my Atami experience.
It had a really lovely common area with a small cafe out front and each bed was in its own tiny room with its own tiny door, the walls hand-painted a different design.
A little door may seem claustrophobic but it was actually much better than having a curtain, like most bunks in hostels. Having my own little room felt really good. I could fold up my bedding and sit on the floor like a real room and not just a place to sleep. I think it was one of my favorite places I stayed at during my trip.
Day 7: Himenosawa Park
The next day, I traveled to Himenosawa Park. I found it while looking up what to do in the area and it looked fun.
I took a nice hike and found that it was actually an adventure/fitness park. There were about 30 different rope courses/climbing activities to attempt while there that felt straight out of Legends of the Hidden Temple. I was living my Nickelodeon kid fantasy.
Well, kinda.
Because I was traveling alone, it was kind of awkward to attempt the obstacles, especially when pesky families would come around and get all in my head. I’m pretty sure these gyms were for children…
I was also afraid of hurting myself and being broken and alone in the woods on a Japanese mountain because I attempted to balance on a wooden log. Maybe I’m losing my edge.
This kid, however, was really good at it. He passed by my feeble frame on the rope climbing rocks and I swear jumped over me as I made my way down the hiking trail. I wondered where his parents were or if he just belonged to the woods.
(…They showed up shortly after when I got to the exit of the trail.)
After hiking, I went home and cooked myself a nice meal while speaking to some of the guesthouse staff. I mentioned I went to the park and they were confused. They hadn’t been there since they were children.
I told them to leave me alone and shoved some discount salmon and bread in my mouth.
So that was it for Atami. My relaxed trip of flying salads and flying children. I hope to return again someday to climb what I was afraid of climbing before and sit on the beach.