Hakone day
Hakone is a small area (equivalent to a county) down further south than I have ever been before. It is most famous for being a hot spring resort, filled with hotels with natural hot springs. I had heard a bit about this, and decided to give it a day trip.
And when I say 'Trip' I mean a real Trip. I've spent more time in vehicles today than a rally driver, and the only vehicle I wasn't in today was a plane. Allow me to explain. In order to get to the starting point of my journey, I had to get the Shinkansen (bullet train) down to Odawara, then get on an older train to get to the right area of Hakone, then get on an even Older train (that rattled and rocked all the way) and began to travel up a mountain (and if I didn't know any better I swear it got lost twice and had to turn around). Then after that I had to get a 'cable car' (more like a ski resort train) even further up the mountain, and then get an actual cable car before I even got the 1st place I wanted to see. It took me 2 and a half hours to get that far.
But that isn't the point I want to get across. When people say 'it's not the destination, its the journey' they are talking about Hakone. The places I went through on this journey alone would give most artists a field day. It is almost like a land the civilisation forgot, or rather where civilisation is but not very much of it. A lot of the more inland areas of Japan are like that, but this is probably the first time I have seen nature having such a strong influence anywhere in the world. Forests cover the mountain sides so thick that you can't begin to guess where the rock starts. The tallest buildings barely have their roofs above the canopy, tiny blots on a rolling sea of beautiful green for miles around.
But moving back to the story, the first place of interest in Hakone is Owakudani. After the long trip I arrived at this natural volcanic site, where sulphur is mined regularly and the volcanic vents pour steam through the earth. There were some natural hot springs to be seen, but just 'seen'. And when I got this far, I was feeling pretty hungry, so I decided to try the local special - kuro-tamago. Literally 'Black Eggs' - essentially boiled eggs, but ones that have been boiled in volcanic springs, thus resulting in a strange black shell. A pinch of salt and they are quite tasty. From this vantage point one is supposed to be able to get a great view of Mount Fuji, but sadly the clouds were starting to thicken by this point (although that did add to the nice view).
Back onto the cable car and down the mountains other side towards Togendai - a small village on the edge of Lake Ashinoko. And what a lake it is; when the sun hits it, it is like a small sea of sapphires. But that wasn't the major selling point of Lake Ashinoko. No that honour belongs to the ferry boats that take you across to the other side. Why are these boats important? Because they are pirate boats. The only way to travel in style (when on water). And as I travelled along the lake, I could see Torii gates - these people may be aware of from many samurai and martial arts films. They have some spiritual significance I sure, but don't ask me, I just think they look awesome.
Now one of the fun things about travelling isn't finding something you were looking for, it's finding something you weren't. And what I found at the other end of the boat ride was a reconstructed samurai fort, perched on the edge of the lake, straight out of a classic Kurosawa film. I had fun for an hour looking around and seeing all the different parts of the fort (which I won't go into here as I'd hate to bore you), but after that I was pretty wiped, so I decided to head back. One long bus ride and another Shinkansen later, I was back in Tokyo.
I know all of this doesn't sound like I did much in Hakone, but thats because there wasn't much to do, and you spend most of your time getting to those places anyway. Its a gorgeous piece of the world mind, and well worth a day trip. But be prepared for a proper 'Trip' all the same.
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