Hey everyone!
Today I went with a bunch of friends to Hakone!
Around now is the right season to go to view the momiji (red autumn leaves).
We had initially planned to visit Kyoto for the weekend but all the reasonably priced hotels had been filled up when we tried to make bookings. We then decided to change our plans to go to Kyoto for a day trip but the Shinkansen tickets alone were 25,000円 (around the ballpark sum of £160). 25,000 yen being too much for some of us to part with for a day trip we decided to look for somewhere else.
We eventually decided on Hakone! We knew that we could see some amazing views in Hakone and was definitely viable as a day trip! It cost us 5000円 to buy a two day travel card that covered all the transport we needed from Shinjuku to Hakone and inside Hakone!
This included boat, buses and cable cars!
We got to Hakone by train. We had a few changes but luckily we didn't make any mistakes! Well, we almost took the wrong train but realised just in time!
We took a train from Yumoto to Gora to get to the cable cars that would transport us to Owakudani (the great boiling valley). The train was SO slow! We were all crushed in like sardines but we still had to stand for aaaages! At one point even more people piled in!
We took cable cars up to a Owakudani,
which had some spectacular views! Owakudani is a volcanic hot spot which is famous for its sulphurous springs.
There we could see Mt.Fuji in all it's glory! It really looked like such a cliche of a mountain! If a child were asked to draw a mountain it would be just like Mt.Fuji! It is such a perfect peak shape with a good cap of snow!
The weather was gorgeous so it was a perfect day to see the views! However, it appeared that everyone else had thought so too! The queues for the cable cars were shocking!
We couldn't pass up the opportunity to try Owakudani's famous black eggs (黒玉子). Each egg you eat is said to increase your lifespan by 7 years! A set of 5 were 500 yen! We bought a pack and had one each, so expect us all to stick around on earth for an extra 7 years!
These eggs are cooked in Owakudani's sulphurous water which gives the eggs a curious black colour.
Once you peel away the shell, The eggs were pretty much the same colour as a normal boiled egg. The set of eggs came with a little packet of salt to season them with. The taste was also not much different from a normal boiled egg!
Owakudani had lots of black coloured foods to try! And as usual I could not pass up the opportunity to try something new and unusual! After eating the egg I bought a Black Monja Bun (黒もんじゃまん). It was really nice, the bun had a mixture of vegetables, noodles and meat. It had a rich, almost sweet flavour.
Another thing being sold was black ice-cream! It came in two different flavours: vanilla and strawberry! I chose the strawberry flavour as I felt this would be the most interesting and was not disappointed! It even had tiny bits of strawberry inside. The flavour was good, undeniably strawberry! The ice cream temporarily turned our lips and tongues black! I wonder if I will live 7 years longer after eating this!
There were lots of other black foods to try including black ramen! But I can only stuff so much into my gullet in one afternoon!
After we had had our fill of black foods and beautiful views we headed back down the cable cars towards Lake Ashi (Ashinoko) to ride on the one of the "pirate ships".
The ships were decorated quite gaudily to look like pirate ships. They look quite spectacular out on the water.
We rode the ship across the lake, the views really were quite stunning.
From the ship you could make out the Shinto shrine with its torii gates rising out of the water. The scenery felt very Japanese.
After riding the boat we returned to Yumoto by bus. We walked around in search for food and eventually decided on a soba restaurant. It was a bit expensive - around 1680 yen for each dish! Unfortunately we would have had to wait around 20 minutes for soba so I ordered a tempura udon dish.
It was really tasty. The broth was really rich and came with a small dish of spring onions which you could add to your own taste. The prawns and vegetables were also really good, and the udon were a good consistency! It came with a pot of spices to season the broth as well.
After eating we had a look around some Omiyage shops (gift shops) to see what special Hakone treats there were on offer.
After we had perused the wares enough Amy, Cami and I found just enough time to dash off to an Onsen called kappa tengoku (かっぱ天国).
It was really awesome, it was described as slightly shabby online but I really found it quite charming!
The lantern-lit stairway up to the inn gave off the feel of the Miyazaki Hayao film, Spirited Away.
We were quite nervous as Amy and I had never been to an onsen before and the prospect of stripping down to nothing but your birthday-suit was quite daunting!
Luckily the other people were just leaving as it was already late so we had the onsen all to ourselves!
It didn't take long for us to get over the nakedness of it all and just enjoy it!
The onsen was just under 800 yen including a towel - the train pass that we had bought gave us a bit of a discount which was great!
When you are clean you can then submerge yourself in the welcoming waters of the onsen!
The water was a perfect temperature! I was worried it would be too hot for me to be able to enter, but it was just right! You need to be careful thought because it is possible to faint or feel sick if you stay in the hot waters for too long!
It was a really lovely atmosphere with the stones and the steam rising from the hot waters. I was really glad we had a chance to squeeze in the trip to the onsen at the end!
After bathing in the onsen we dashed off to the train station as it was getting pretty late! We had a bit of time to kill before our train left so we looked in the Omiyage shop in the train station and bought some souvenirs.
We all bought some Hello Kitty Onsen Tabi socks to remember the trip to the onsen and then made our way back home!
It was an amazing day out! We got to do so many things and the price was really reasonable! I'm so grateful for everyone who came for making it a great trip!
I will be looking forward to the Niji no Kai trip next weekend to Yamanashi!
Well, see you for now!
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