Japan - Day 3 to 5

We left busy Tokyo for peaceful Hakone on the morning of day 3. =) Boarded the Romance Car from Shinjuku station and reached Hakone 85 minutes later. Following that, there was a 20 minute bus ride to the ryokan.





This is our room at the ryokan =) Nice eh?


We immediately dipped our bodies in our private onsen. The water was rather hot but Joshie seemed fine and was happily scooping water out (as pictured above).

This picture was taken onboard the ferry at Lake Ashi. This leg-shaped lake is touted as the primary attraction of Hakone, due to the ability to view Mt Fuji from the ferry. However, the mountain is often hidden behind clouds and we were one unfortunate lot who did not have that privellege. Nevertheless, we think we saw the mountain when we were onboard the Hakone Ropeway the next day. Not really sure if it is though. =P

I read that part of Hakone's popularity comes from the chance to ride assorted modes of transport around the line. So since we were already in the region, we decided to give it a go. On our final day there, we boarded the bus to Togendai. From there, we took the Hakone Ropeway to Souzan and thereafter to Owakudani. Owakudani is a volcanic cauldron of steam, bubbling mud and mysterious smell. We walked uphill to where the boiling pits are. Here's a picture of Joshie with daddy.

The gases are poisonous so visitors are advised not to linger for long. Visitors can buy boiled eggs, turned black in the sulphurous water. We didn't buy since the minimum purchase is 5 eggs!

From Owakudani, we took the Hakone Cablecar to Gora and thereafter switched to the train for Hakone Yumoto station. It was evening by the time we arrived in Tokyo and we were dead tired! That concludes our 5th day!