Petit Resort Akaiuma Ito

... an hour on this train we switched to another bound for Hakone-Yumoto. Once we arrived we changed to a bus heading for Moto-Hakone. The further along the journey we went the colder it got. Unfortunately the bus we got on took us on the indirect (and possibly less scenic) route (about 40 mins), but it was irrelevant as the weather was so bad you couldn't see much, certainly not Mt. Fuji!

Arriving at the ...

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 ...

... seven years to your life – we decided to take our chances.

This ropeway took us up over the peak and then back down to Lake Ashi; a volcanic lake over 700m above sea level. We jumped on a sightseeing cruise across the lake and back aboard a mock 18th century sailing ship (very cute – check out the photos). Back over the ropeways and down to Gora we jumped on a very cute little switchback train which snaked and ...

... to ask Santa for one of these for Christmas (not sure how he’s going to manage the hot natural spring though!!!). Rejuvenated, content and excited about tomorrow when we venture further up the mountain and play on four other forms of transport, we are all just about ready to hit the futon.

Folks you really have to come and check this place out. Anyway, that’s it for today. Thinking of you all in Oz as we ponder coming back here again...

Sayonara.

... Edo).

W okolicy jest stary punkt kontrolny (checkpoint), którego zadaniem było kontrolowanie przepływu ludności przez wewnętrzną granicę w starej Japonii. Szczególnej kontroli podlegały osoby opuszczające dawne Tokio (dawniej: Edo). Dlaczego? Powód jest bardzo ciekawy. Szogun przetrzymywał żony i dzieci samurajów w Tokio, podczas gdy mężowie służyli gdzieś wewnątrz kraju, z dala od rodzin. Była ...

... its way up the mountain. The next 200m were the worst. Slow, cold, wet, pathetic, shivering, and blue-lipped we started talking about abandoning ship and set an abandonment time of 6:30am if we hadn’t reached the top (it was 6:00am and we were supposed to have been able to easily reach the summit an hour earlier – and would have if not for the crush of humanity). Then just when things seemed bleakest, we passed the 200m sign and things started ...

... the day’s adventures we just chilled out in the evening.


Rising early the next day, we were able to see the stunning Hakone in day light. After a breakfast of croissants, we caught the local train up the zigzag railway, which took us past the breath-taking scenery of the national park and up into the huge mountains. We then caught a cable-car over the serene Lake Ashi, the part of the journey where, if you are lucky you can see mount Fuji. Unfortunately ...

... in certain seating positions!)

The serving of food was wonderful and extremely fresh. The set course consisted of 8 authentic courses including a huge tray of sashimi and special marinated fish. (I don’t recall the exact menu but I’m sure can be found ...

... It is unusual for someone of her generation to speak perfect English, but her mother was an English translator and so she spoke very well. First was the tea ceremony, where she showed us to hoe receive and drink tea and sweets properly. Next she played some songs for us on the Japanese harp, which seems like a very difficult instrument. Next was the ikebana flower arranging, which is very particular and difficult. She taught us ...

... views of the mountain peak.

We then drove on to Hakone and took the cable car across to the Owakaduni Valley volcanic area with its steam vents and boiling water pools. Being a volcanic area it had the customary smell of rotten eggs. You could also buy "black eggs" which were eggs boiled in the sulphur-rich water which turned the egg shells black.

After taking the cable car back we got back in the bus and drove on to our final ...