Hakone was a lot to do in a day. You could easily stay the night at a ryokan (Japanese style inn) and take your time. But, we opted to pack it in. Although we did it all in one day, I couldn’t manage to fit it all in one post. If you missed it, check out Hakone Part 1. Here’s part two!
After gliding across Lake Ashi for about 40 minutes we got off at Togendai-ko and made our way to the Hakone Ropeway. This was an amazing experience. Like so much of Japan, the process was very orderly and easy to understand. There was a long line but no one pushes or cuts and it moved quickly. Groups of approximately 10 or so people get on the gondolas and off you float, soaring above the trees with the shimmering lake behind you.
You get a 360 degree view of the beautiful area. On this ride is when we had our second most fortunate sighting of the great Mount Fuji. The low clouds and later afternoon sun inhibited a good picture but sometimes all you need is the picture in your brain. And I’ll never forget the huge white peak off on the horizon.
First stop on the ropeway was Owakudani which is also called the Great Boiling Valley. This area is around a crater made by the last eruption of Mount Hakone like 3000 years ago. What remains is a volcanic area with beautiful sulfur fumes and loads of hot springs. We had looked forward to trying the volcanic eggs that are cooked in the hot water. The sulfur makes the shells black and the hot water makes them perfectly hard boiled. It’s legend that eating one prolongs your life by 7 years.
Another ropeway leg and we arrived to Sounzan. Here we hopped on the Hakone Tozan Cable car for a fun 211 meter decline basically in a straight line. That took us to Gora where we took the Tozan train back to Hakone Yumoto.
At this point we had finished the loop. The entire thing probably took us about 5 hours but we felt a little rushed. If I did it again I would assure myself more time. One reason we were rushing is we had reservations at an open air onsen at the end of the day. I had done a bit of research and realized that becuase we had young children with us it would be ideal to have a private onsen so we could all stay together. We ended up choosing Hakone Yuryo. They offer a free shuttle from the Hakone Yumoto Station. We arrived after dark and were quickly shown to our private onsen which was called Hanare Yuya Kaden type 2.
Stripping down naked and soaking in the hot water with the cool mountain air on us was the most relaxing way to end such a journey-filled day. Our littles had experienced some natural warm pools in Iceland but this was definitely warmer. Ok. It was hot. But, after some time they all eased in and floated and pranced and relaxed.
And then we sleepily made our way back to Tokyo.
Watch a short video of our day:
