7 April 2015
We would not be expecting to ride on a Western-style pirate ship in Japan, but we did. That was when we made a side trip from Tokyo to Hakone and Kawaguchiko.
Many tourists visit Hakone with the aim of seeing Mount Fuji and doing it as a day trip from Tokyo. We felt that we had more time on our hands and decided to travel to Hakone by train, do the recommended Hakone sightseeing course, stay overnight in Hakone before travelling to Kawaguchiko by bus for an overnight stay in a ryokan and returning to Shinjuku by bus. Hopefully, we get to see a lot of Mount Fuji along the way. This is the itinerary that was suggested and covered by the Fuji Hakone Pass.
The Fuji Hakone Pass (cost 7,400 Yen) is a rail pass for exclusive use by non-Japanese passport holders.
It consists of:
1) A round trip to the Mount Fuji Region by Odakyu Railways and Fujikyu/Keio highway bus.
2) Unlimited use of buses, trains, boats, cable-car and ropeway in the free area around Hakone and the Fuji Five Lakes on three consecutive days.
3) Discounted admission to selected tourist attractions.
Our trip started and ended in Shinjuku Station and that’s the place to buy the Fuji Hakone pass. We booked ourselves into the Hotel Sunroute Plaza Shinjuku for the nights before and after our trip out of Shinjuku. Compared to the APA Hotel Ginza Kyobashi, the double room we had in Hotel Sunroute Plaza Shinjuku was much more spacious for the price paid and the hotel is a short walking distance to the Shinjuku Station (one of my main booking criteria).
The Fuji Hakone Pass does not cover seats on the Odakyu Limited Express "Romance Car" so I made online bookings before our trip. Weather-wise, the best time to visit Hakone and Kawaguchiko is when there is good clear weather. Unfortunately, the forecast was for rain during our planned excursion dates and we had no choice but to go ahead with our plan since we are tourists and our time in Japan is fixed.
We booked and collected our Fuji Hakone Pass from the Odakyu Sightseeing Service Center the day before. This place was not easy to find in the busy Shinjuku Station and the map we had was not detailed enough.
On the morning of the travel, we checked into the gates and got to the train platform where there is a cafe selling breakfast. We had coffee and pastries there while waiting to board the 7.27 AM train from Shinjuku to Hakone-Yumoto Station. As I had made my bookings early, we were able to sit in the first car with good views.
Unfortunately, the weather forecast was accurate and it rained en-route as forecasted and Mount Fuji was covered in clouds. Otherwise, Fuji-san should be viewable from the train as it approaches Hakone. Signs of things to expect on this trip.
We arrived at the Hakone Yumoto Station and dropped off our overnight bag at the luggage forwarding service counter. It costs 700 yen (discounted price with our Fuji Hakone Pass) to send one piece of our overnight luggage to our hotel (Hakone Yumoto Onsen Pax Yoshino) in the Hakone area. We had left our main luggage at the Shinjuku Hotel, to be collected after our Hakone/Kawaguchiko trip.
Free of our hand luggage, we were ready to embark on the sightseeing course round Hakone when we saw a sign informing us that the Hakone Ropeway to the Owakudani site was not operating due to weather. This was supposed to be one of the main highlights of the Hakone sightseeing course. Nevertheless, we decided to follow the course all the way to the start of the ropeway and backtrack down to Hakone and go to our hotel early in the worst case.
From the Hakone-Yumoto Station, we took the Hakone Tozan Railway as per the sightseeing course. The train went through a narrow, densely wooded valley, gaining more than 300 meters in altitude and took us to Gora and the pouring rain. There were supposedly nice shops around Gora. No more walking around Gora. Instead, we sat and had something to eat in the Gora Station, deciding our next moves.
We were deciding whether to the Gora to Sounzan cablecar which will bring us to the Sounzan station to take the ropeway which is not operating or to turn back and go to our hotel early since the weather is bad.
We decided to go for the ride on the cablecar (actually a furnicular) to Sounzan and back since we already paid for it (included in the Fuji Hakone Pass). To our nice surprise, buses have been arranged to take us to the Owakudani site as a workaround for the ropeway closure. Hurrah! We could get to Owakudani after all.
There was a queue for the buses but soon enough, we boarded the bus and got to the Owakudani site. Ōwakudani (大涌谷) is the area around a crater created during the last eruption of Mount Hakone some 3000 years ago. Today, this is a place to go see the sulfurous fumes, hot springs and geological activities.
It was still raining when we came down from the bus. Armed with an umbrella and our rain jackets, we braved the weather like many others before us and took the short walking trail (about ten minutes one way) that led from the ropeway station into the volcanic zone, to a number of steam vents and bubbling pools.
Armed with an umbrella and our rain jackets, we braved the weather like many others before us and took the short walking trail.
We crossed over a steaming hot stream on the way to the the volcanic zone where there were more steam vents and bubbling pools.
Hopefully no eruptions during our visit!
Just as we arrived at the end of the trail, the rain lightened to a drizzle and stopped. This helped to make it easier for me to get some photos of the unique landscape.
Here we could purchase eggs, cooked in the naturally hot water of 80 to 90 degree C, whose shells are blackened by the sulphur and which are said to prolong one's life by seven years.
After extending our lives by at least seven years, we headed back to the visitor center and found that the ropeway from Owakudani to Togendai where we were to take the Lake Ashi cruise were operating.
Hurrah!
But no sight of Mount Fuji in this weather.
Sigh!
What we saw at the end of the ropeway journey was a couple of boats that would take us from Togendai to Hakone-machi, located across Lake Ashi. The boats were dressed up to looked like Western-style pirate ships, with masts, sails and all.
The rain started again while we were on the “pirate ship”. We alighted at Hakone-machi where we planned to have lunch and then walk to Moto-Hakone. The Checkpoint Museum, Detached Palace Garden and the Ancient Cedar Avenue are located along this attractive walk from Hakone-machi to Moto-Hakone but we were planning to do the Ancient Cedar Avenue walk only.
Walking in the rain along the main road towards Moto-Hakone, we stopped at a restaurant (箱根明か蔵) for lunch.
After lunch, we walked in the light rain along the ancient Cedar Avenue as planned. This was supposed to be a nice walk under the shade of the 400 years old trees. But not so nice with wet shoes and feet. We spotted another couple ahead of us. So we were not the only crazy tourists who went walking in the rain.
We aborted the idea of more walking along the old Tokaido trail to the Amazake Chaya. Instead, we made a beeline for the Hakone-Jinja shrine, just to see and photograph the red torii gate by the waters of Lake Ashi.
About 15 minutes later, we were at the entrance leading to the Hakone Jinja shrine. To get to the shrine itself, we had to tackle some stairs uphill.
Despite the intermittent rain, the shrine had a fair amount of visitors and worshippers.
We made our way down to edge of the lake to view the red torii gate on the shore. We learnt that this gate is also called the Peace Torii of Hakone Shrine.
Although the rain has stopped by the time we finished seeing Hakone Shrine, we were tired and longing for the comfort of the ryokan. To get to our ryokan (Hakone Yumoto Onsen Pax Yoshino), we took an express bus from Moto Hakone to the Yumoto Station.
Upon arrival, we checked out the location of the bus stop for the next morning‘s travel to Kawaguchi-ko, We also browse through the shops along the main street near the station as we knew that we would not have time to do this the next day.
The ryokan was a short walk away from the station, through some rustic looking houses.
We had not stayed in a ryokan before, so plenty for us to learn about ryokan etiquette. Upon check in, a guide showed us the process of taking off our shoes at the entrance, slipping on slippers and not walking on the tatami mats with shoes on. Then she showed us the yukatas we could wear to dinner later and then confirmed the time for our dinner.
Our room came with an attached semi-open bath and a shower area with views of the river.
Unlike typical ryokans with dinner served in the room, our multi-course dinner was served in a communal dining room with standard western style tables. The food was amazingly well presented and tasty.
After dinner, we went back to our room and found that our futons were already laid out on the tatami mats while we were at dinner. But it was too early for bed and one of the highlights of visiting Hakone is to experience the onsens.
During check-in, we had booked a private hot spring bath/onsen to have a soak after our dinner.
The onsen was located on the highest floor of the hotel. We had one hour to ourselves. The constantly flowing natural spring water was hot!
Although the bath was semi-open, with views of the river that flows next to the hotel in the day, we could only hear the gushing of the water as it was dark outside.
Overall, it was quite a good experience soaking in the hot water and then cooling down in the cold night air before getting another soak. A good way to end the day.
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