Hakone Shrine

... a mini-mall. Tried another Japanese delicacy but from a bakery so I knew we couldn't go too wrong. Our destination was the Hakone Shrine. This place is over 700 years old and has such history, before you go anywhere near the actual shrine you need ...

Well today was an early start for us explorers, as we had a day tour arranged for a visit to Mount Fuji and Hakone. We were all pretty excited about this. The tour was due to pick us up from another hotel at 7:50 and from there we took a tour bus to a ...

... 8.30, but when they saw us peeking at the door, they waved us in.  Yummm. At shinjuku station, we purchased the Hakone freepass, which covers roundtrip fare from the Tokyo area, and use of the various buses, boats, and cable cars in the Hakone ...

... was later told it was also the smog created by all the visitors.  Bummer! After getting off the pirate ship, I walked to Hakone shrine. Finally, a place where the families don't care to visit! I took refuge on the temple grounds, shaded by the tall ...

... and drinking beer to recover afterward! The next day we walked around the town we were staying at saw some nice scenery and prayed at a shrine.  We are back in Tokyo now so enjoy the pics, we are going to get our hair cut soon also we are in Gifu ...

... just one of many observations we have noted. The one hour bus drive was worth it and the view from the lake overlooking the red Hakone shrine was breath-taking. Mark even managed to spot a group of Gobies (his addiction to tropical fish!) in the water! ...

... a bus.   Moto-Hakone to Hakone-Yumoto by Hakone Tozan Bus 35 minutes, departures every 15-20 minutes Visit Hakone Shrine in Moto-Hakone and then return by bus to Yumoto, possibly with a stop at Yunessun along the way. Alternatively, you ...

... do the volcano experiment..." He's an interesting tour guide.  We began our "5 stop day" in Kamakura where we visited a shrine which was breathtaking. Then we walked around the city for about an hour, lost Kris for four minutes because he decided ...

... . Bought some boiled sweet corns steeply priced at 400 Yen, they looked yummy but were too sweet after a while. There was a shrine nearby; Nitin suggested that we see it once. Vikram protested saying he was tired of seeing shrines but finally gave in ...

... but very enjoyable.  Hakone is like Jasper, as a matter of fact, it is the sister city to Jasper. However, Hakone is a holiday/vacation getaway for Japanese and while there are some foreigners but it is not geared to foreigners.  We tried ...