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| Mt Fuji seen from Owakudani, Hakone |
While most people prefer to do a 2 days course in Hakone, we had opted for a day trip even though our tickets (Hakone Freepass, which was NOT free) allowed for 2 days usage.
We ride the Odakyu Romance Car in the morning as the view would be better. The train would start from Shinjuku station. At Shinjuku station, we bought some パン （"pan"） (bread or bun in Japanese) instead of bento (which we regretted for not buying). We were running as we could not miss the Romance Car timing!!! (We paid the top up fee for Romance Car so the timing of the trip was shorten due to lesser stop).
Along the way, we started to nom our パン. Looking out
of the window on the right hand side, we saw residential houses, fields
and mountains. Not long before reaching, Mount Fuji peeped on and off
along the way. That was awesome. What a magnificent view, because we did
not see it elsewhere for the past few days since we touched down in
Tokyo. (Except that I did see birds' eye view of it when I was on the
airplane!)
We do the round course in Hakone, starting from
Hakone-Yumoto station, just in front on the next track, Tozan train was
there, waiting for alighting passengers. We went across and took the
Tozan train uphill. When Tozan train crossed a bridge, the view was
superb! Just like those seen on Japan Hour. The driver was "kept busy",
as he would need to keep on "switching his position" front and back in
order to "switch" (drive) the train upward (uphill). It was a rare
sight, I guessed we appreciated what he was doing all these while, to
keep Hakone Tozan train marked as special, lolz...
From Hakone-Yumoto station, we skipped the Open Air museum and went straight up to Gora. The Open Air museum was a nice one according to our brochure but seeing the 2 tiring pair of feet, we gave it a miss. At Gora, we walked out of the station to explore. There was a little street
line with flowers and a ryokan. As the time was still early, the noodle shop which we were expecting was not ready for business yet. We ended up in the ryokan, walking around and exploring the shops inside. After some warmth, we came out again on the street and the 2 little ones started to snap pictures of the flowers. We then continue our journey to Sounzan station.
At Sounzan, we decided to walk outside awhile for
fresh chill air before proceeding via ropeway to Owakudani station.
Most people rushed immediately for the Ropeway though (why?), but we
were not in a hurry. You would still need to stand at the queue even if
you were to rush, I would rather take 5 while the crowds were slowly
sent off in cable cars (ropeway).
While on the ropeway to Owakudani station, get your camera ready as Mount Fuji would appear again! You too could see smoke/steam coming up from below you from the valley. These were the steam (sulphur) where the black Owakudani tamago (eggs) were done. We had our lunch at Owakudani and then we strolled into Owakudani trail. Along the way, you could see Mt Fuji. Another station to see Mt Fuji would be at the area at the end of the trail. Smoke and smell of sulphur was everywhere, so we did a quick trail and back, but it was really fun and worth the trip!
After the trail, we continued with ropeway to Togendai. At this station we waited at the pier for the ferry. This time we would see the "water"part, ie lake. When descending, we could see Mount Fuji again! The sun was very bright at that time (about 2.45pm).
The lake was beautiful and there was strong breeze. We
did not stop anywhere else along the water-way with 3 complaining
fellows . We actually could visit the shrine by dropping at
Moto-Hakone-ko pier. It was also getting late after the 1 hour water
way. We finally dropped at Hakone-machi-ko pier, which was the last
station. At this time, we were walking around frantically because we did
not know how to get back to Hakone-Yumoto station since I did not plan
for dropping at the last station. Anyway we finally managed to board a
Tozan bus which was full of standing passengers. The journey took about
35mins, most of us were nodding our heads while standing...
By the time we reached Hakone-Yumoto station, it was
almost 50% dark. A quick snap around the beautiful river and
surroundings, we quickly reserved seats for our tickets back to
Shinjuku. Luckily we still have sufficient time, so we bought 2 Hakone
bentos to feed hungry tummies while on the train. Those was last few
left, otherwise we need to get something cold and raw again.
Well, I guess no onsen while in Hakone was a regret. However it was still worth the trip with the little ones.
Thanks for following us around Hakone!
