Izu Exploring

Woke up to stunning views of Atami Bay and Tokyo in the distance.
I headed a bit further uphill from the car park where I’d stayed – albeit cautiously, as I hadn’t filled up the car the night before and it was showing 0 km of range left. Turns out it was worth the risk, and I was rewarded with incredible views of Mount Fuji. I was, however, slightly concerned to see how snow-covered it still was, as I’m planning to climb it next month with Jack and Coops when they arrive in June.
I rolled back down the hill into Atami (still trying to conserve fuel) and headed to the port, where I met Seb and Iman. They’d been staying on a nearby island the night before, hence the port meeting spot. That night, we were planning to stay right down on the southern tip of the Izu Peninsula – about a two-hour drive.
We set off, but immediately got distracted by a flea market in the next town down from Atami, so we pulled over for a wander and some light lunch. One stall let you pick a semi-dried fish and barbecue it yourself, which was great fun – I had a soy and sesame-seasoned mackerel that was absolutely delicious.
We continued down through the centre of the peninsula, which turned out to be wasabi country – where the highest-quality fresh roots come from. They were even selling it at the roadside station we stopped at, for about £2.50 a root (the same thing would cost around £30 in London, if not more).
We arrived at the ryokan around 4, checked in, and wandered into the small village for a beer on the beach before dinner at 6 p.m. sharp (provided by the ryokan). The place was run by an elderly couple, and the meal consisted of very traditional Japanese countryside dishes – sashimi, miso soup, pickles, rice, tofu – all served at the same time in small bowls and plates.
After dinner, we watched half of Paul on Netflix before heading to bed.