Odakyu Yamano Hotel Hakone

Today we had a great day exploring outside of Tokyo at the Hakone National Park. It is about 80 km outside of Tokyo. We took a bus to the park where we took the ropeway (gondola) up to the area where there are sulfur springs due to the volcanic activity in the area. We had beautiful views of Mt. Fuji, who had had her first snow the night before. Once we got to the area of the springs, our guide told ...

... Fuji – any photo you have seen does not do it justice. It is amazingly huge.

The second ropeway went over a sulphide mine – they call it hell valley – and the rotten egg smell filled our noses. We bought a black egg, which is an egg cooked in the sulphide water which turns the egg black and gives it a slight smokey (dare we say "*****" smell). Although an acquired taste; local legend says that eating one will ...

... guided into the house hot spring bath. Charged with natural minerals and heated from inside the earth, the hot springs (Onsen as they are called over here) are famed for the relaxing and rejuvenating properties. We can all testify that these claims are right on the money.

We soaked in the waters and all our travel aches, pains and weariness seemed to just disappear. We’ve reserved the huge tub here again early tomorrow morning and are already ...

... had baths with views of Mount Fuji- oh yea, we managed to get one of the 100/365 days when you can get a clear view of the Fuje- but it also had a proper outdoor bit with a bubbly spa pool, hot lake pool, ceramic bathtub pool and bamboo bath pool- spoilt for choice really and absolutely gorgeous after a long day hiking! We also got their taster dinner one ...

... sztuki na świeżym powietrzu, w którym znajduje się także niezwykle interesujący pawilon poświęcony życiu i twórczości Picasso. W drodze powrotnej zatrzymaliśmy się w Odawarze, żeby zobaczyć rekonstrukcję starego zamku. Korzystając z okazji, zdecydowaliśmy się także przejść nad brzegiem Pacyfiku, który przykuwa uwagę swoją plażą, na której znajdziecie ciemny, wulkaniczny piasek.

... fish:
"Dashi and Umami: The Heart of Japanese Cuisine" edited and published by Eat-Japan.

Eat-Japan:
http:// www.eat-japan.com/
Dashi and Umami book:
http://www.amazon.com/Dashi-Umami-Heart -Japanese-Cuisine/dp/1897701934/ref=sr_ 1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1252377 445&sr=8-1

Thailand and Japan have a wonderful selection of pre-made take home food available in supermarkets. Japan ...

... shuffled (as quickly as we could) to our respective changing rooms, feeling a bit stupid. The onsen itself was amazing and soooo relaxing, and was just like a huge natural outdoor Jacuzzi, and the water felt so hot compared to the cold air. I did spend a while waiting for Sam to come out of his changing room before realising there were separate onsens for men and women.

Afterwards, and back in the changing room I reluctantly donned my outfit once more and tried to leave ...

... br>13:30pm: Departed the 5th station, began climbing.
18:00pm: Arrived at the “goraiko-kan” , the last and highest mountain hut on the 8.5th station (along the yoshidaguchi trail).
19:00pm: Dinner (curry and rice)
20:00pm: Went to bed.

The Folloing Day

2:30am : Woke up
3 am: Left the mountain hut and began climbing to the top
5:30 am: Arrived at the top, wait for the ...

We left the house and took a yokohama line around 11 am to "Hachiouji" station, had a lunch at the top floors of "SOGO" department store, and took a cab to the "Chuou Highway Bus Stop".


We arrived to the bus stop about 5-10 minutes before the bus was scheduled to arrive and it was raining. At first we did not ...

... de souvenirs y recuerdos de Hakone. Todavía puedo hacer alguna foto más del monte Fuji que de vez en cuando se asoma entre las nubes. Llevo buena hora, son las cinco y ya solo me queda coger un autobús para volver al punto de inicio, en Hakone-Yumoto. Estoy muy satisfecho de la jornada y he sudado tanto que la camiseta se me ha teńido de blanco por las sales que he perdido. Solo me queda, como colofón, el poder visitar un onsen para relajarme y acabar como nuevo. Esperando el autobús ...