Mt. Hakone (The Most Amazing View of Mt. Fuji in Japan)

        The journey to the top of this mountin, to see this amazing view was a LONG one! We left the house before 8 a.m to head to the train. We went from one train, to another train, and bought our Hakone Free Pass for just over 4000 yen each (Ben was free) at that station. This pass is worth the cost as it is valid for 2 days and allows you discounted fare and easy passage from each different type of transportation that you need to take to complete the round trip. Why valid for 2 days...well it's set up that way for a reason...Japan lesson of the day...if the pass is set up for 2 or 3 days, take your time and allow 2 or 3 days to do the sightseeing!

This is the map we followed. It shows the various transportation lines you must take to see the area. Mind you this is all a very thickly forested mountainous region.


     
     Our initial and ambitious plan was to take the Railway from the city of Odawara to the Open Air Museum, where they have a large collection of sculptures (including many Picasso's), then we would continue on to Gora to hop the cable car to the Ropeway to Owakudani where we could take a nice walk among hotsprings and have something to eat. After which we were going to continue down the ropeway to Lake Ashinoko and board the passenger boat to Moto-Hakone where we could visit the Hakone Shrine ( #4 of 143 major sights to see in Japan on www.japan-guide.com). After a walk through the shrine we would board a bus back to Odawara and take the train home...ambitious, but do-able...so we thought.


Train platform where we detoured for a few minutes after
not getting off to transfer.

      When we arrived at Odawara station we followed the crowd to the platform for the Hakone Railway. We ran into a couple that we knew so we sat with them and chatted during the ride. Aside from a minor set back of not getting off at the Hakone-Yumoto to transfer and having to go back a stop and get on the next train going the right way, we were pretty much on track.
Once we got to Hakone-Yumoto there were people holding signs directing people to the line for Tozan Railway towards Gora...this is where we realized we forgot an important detail. It was still Golden Week. Golden week is when almost all Japanese are on vacations to visit family and go sightseeing...like the previous weekend when we were at the zoo with about 2 million other people.We stood in line for about an hour at this first train station and while we were on the slow and zig-zagging ride up the mountain side, we realized that it was already after noon. We were going to have to cut the Museum out of our agenda.

Small town nestled in the mountainside, Gora.

       We stopped in Gora to take a little walk and find a place to eat with our friends. After lunch at the only place with an English menu, we got in line for the Cablecar. This was the shortest line, but still a mass of people crowded us in. As we went through the ticket gate, our friends were told to go back because they didn't have the right tickets. We were separated and they told us to go on ahead. So we did. The cablecar is a short ride at about a 45 degree angle going straight up the mountain side.
When we got off at the Ropway station, we were greeted by yet another super long line...at least there was a nice view this time.

Ben near the line for the Ropeway.

The end of the line is out side...the rest of it wraps around inside the entire building.

    Finally it was our turn!

   The ride was nice and smooth and relatively quick, and the views were amazing!


View of ropeway from Owakudani. I can't believe I actually rode on that thing...

Geothermal vents in the hillside at Owakudani.

       Once we arrived at Owakudani, it was our first chance to relax a bit and actually see some sights. The views from up there on a clear day were just breathtaking. My amateur pictures hardly give them justice. We took our time up here browsing a few of the many gift shops and snack stands. The traditional snack to eat while you're here is an egg hard-boiled in the sulfur springs. It's is said that eating these eggs adds 7 years to your life. So, we bought some fresh ripe strawberries and of course, the eggs for a snack. Re-energized we took a short hike up the path to the geothermal vents and location where they cook the eggs.

A Hard-boiled egg, boiled in the geothermal pools is the traditional snack. The sulfuric water turns the
 shell black, but despite the shell's color they are fresh and delicious.

The eggs even have a little electric ropeway of their own. They cart the piping hot eggs straight
 to and from the boiling waters up the hill.

and there it is....the killer view of Fuji-san (Hoo-ji sahn)...

    


1030m or 3380 ft.

        

There were two tables completely covered in egg shells.

       Once we walked back down the trail we decided we might as well get in line for the ropeway down to Togendai and Lake Ashi since it would probably take a while. After about an hour we arrived at the terminal to hop on a ferry boat down the lake where we could go to the shrine or board a bus back to Odawara. Little did we know how beautiful the passenger boats are! After another line, we got on the Cruiser at 5:15, it was too late to see the shrine. But it was okay, because we were so tired and ready to make the long trip home.


Royale

Victory

   We rode Victory across Lake Ashi. There were so many people that there was no where to sit, so we decided to fork out an extra 400 yen ($5) for first class passage. It was worth it as first class was close to empty. We were all exhausted and hungry at this point, so after a small snack and a family photo with the ships "pirate" we headed up to the deck to look outside.

Yaargh!

The deck was practically a playground!

 

       We arrived at Moto-Hakone  around 6:15 p.m. and pretty much ran straight to the bus ahead of the major portion of the crowd. A 45 minute bus ride turned into almost 2 hours due to stopped traffic all the way to Hakone-Yumoto (yet another perk of Golden week). As we rode on the bus our inherent American impatience started to really test us, especially because Marcus had to pee really badly. I spent much of my time during the day observing the Japanese and how they cope with delayed trips or lengthy lines. The straight up fact is, it seems for most of them that there is nothing to "cope" with. Lines and waiting is just a part of life. You'll get there when you get there. I saw no one become agitated, or say anything disgruntled. Not one complaint. I really admire that about certain cultures, and I am consciously trying to adopt and embody that kind of mindset myself. I mean, what's the point in letting your impatience stress you out or upset you? What's the point of being in such a hurry, or being so easily upset over that which you have no control of?

      We arrived in Odawara around 8 p.m. nearly starving as we had only had a small snack here and there besides lunch. None of the Japanese food choices were appealing to us at that point in the evening. I couldn't stomach a massive bowl of noodles, or anything fried. We found a small bagel sandwich shop and I gladly ordered a ham and cheese with mustard and lettuce. We took our sandwiches outside to sit and enjoy the Super Moon and city lights as we ate our dinner. Ben scarfed down his entire bagel with cream cheese in a matter of seconds! He's such a trooper. Sometimes the simplest foods that you normally take for granted can be so comforting. I played with the camera in the night time lighting for a few minutes before we headed for our ride home. After about another hour we arrived at home around 9:30 p.m. absolutely exhausted after another wonderful day on our Japanese Adventure.

Night shot in Odawara.