There are lots of things to see in Hakone and we planned to do a circle route to see as many of the main sights as possible. This entailed taking the Hakone Tozan Cable Car and then the Hakone Ropeway to a place called Owakudani.
Owakudani is the area around a crater created during the last eruption of Mount Hakone some 3000 years ago. Today, much of the area is an active volcanic zone where sulfurous fumes, hot springs and hot rivers can be experienced. Yeah, this was straight from Wikipedia--I didn't pay much attention in geology class and needed a little help from my best friend, the internet.
One used to be able to walk on trails around there, but they had to be closed due to the volcanic gases. There is an observation platform at Owakudani Station and even that far away from the vents, the smell is quite overpowering, but it is a sight to see!
This place is also famous for its black eggs, which are eggs boiled in the hot, sulfuric water after which the shell turns black. The inside is not affected and stays white. Eating one is supposed to add 7 years to your life. At this point in time, I didn't know if I wanted to risk eating one and adding more years in this crazy world drama, but curiosity overwhelmed me. Tasted like egg with bit of sulfur on the side.
Usually, the ropeway takes you all the way down to Lake Ashi, also known as Lake Ashinoko, but of course today was the first day that part was closed for the annual maintenance and a bus took over. No worries though--we saw what we wanted to see.
Once at Lake Ashi, we boarded one of the ships modeled after historical ships. Ours supposedly looked like the Vasa, a war ship built by King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden in the 1600's. Bet that one didn't smell like gas fumes. On the other hand, we didn't have to row so I guess that was OK.
We got off at Hakonemachi with the intent of visiting the old checkpoint, then walking along the Ancient Cedar Highway to Motohakone, where we would continue on the old Tokaido Highway to the Amazake-chaya Teahouse. Explanations follow as we move along.
First stop: Hakone Checkpoint, a reconstruction. It used to be an important checkpoint to control traffic along the Tokaido Highway from Tokyo to Kyoto during the feudal Edo Period (1603-1867). Sorry, I just had to throw in a history lesson! After all, you should know what you're looking at.
The Tokugawa Shogunate erected 53 checkpoints throughout Japan to inspect travelers, weapons and make sure hostages weren't smuggled out. If you want to know more about that, watch "Shogun"!
Here it is, the Hakone Checkpoint; the figures have been kept gray deliberately. The description said that the reconstructers didn't know what color the horses and the clothes were, so they kept it neutral.
Finally some Janglish!
Part of this little expedition involved climbing some steep stairs, but that was only a preview of what was yet to come. We have already had plenty of practice walking the extended ways through the subway stations and climbing the stairs there, so we were somewhat prepared.
A so-called Ancient Cedar Avenue led from Hakonemachi to Moto-Hakone. Some of these cedars are 300-400 years old. That is ancient in American terms, but just yesterday in European terms.
Ancient Cedar Avenue
After only about 15 minutes we reached Moto-Hakone.
Then came the highlight of the day--walking on the old Tokaido Highway. This is an original part of the highway from the Edo period, paved with stones, except missing the dirt in between the stones that somewhat leveled it out. I had read somewhere that it was going to be steep, but had disregarded that as hate speech. Turns out, I was wrong and that path was steep, but the allure of the Amazake-Chaya Teahouse at the end of it kept us going. All those hours at the gym did pay off!
We even encountered a snake on the way and just like Kansans during a tornado, we wipped out our cellphones and got as close as we could to take a good picture, not knowing if this snake was poisonous or not. It was a beautiful copper color and blended in well with the fallen leaves; it slithered away quickly so we didn't get our photos.
At some point, the crest of the highway was reached and the road went downhill, which was almost worse, because the stones were wet and uneven and extreme focusing was in order. That is extremely hard when at the same time you try to gossip with your friend; the result was a prolonged silence since healthy limbs take precedence over idle talk.
There was a little marker at the end of this stretch, where wanderers had left coins. Typical Japan--there were lots of coins, yet nobody stole them. We too left some, being grateful we had finally made it. I'm sure the contributors of the other coins had felt the same!
I can't even imagine how the people in the old days rode horses, walked on and carried palanquins on this road, even with the dirt between the stones evening them out a bit more than they are today!
Another hike, this time over more exposed roots than stones, brought us to the Amazake-Chaya Teahouse. The amazake was a special treat--it's a naturally sweet, thick, hot, fermented rice drink and was delicious!
Amazake
Teahouse entrance
Inside the teahouse--it was much darker in there; I lightened up the picture so details could be viewed
We were lucky there was a bus stop right in front of the teahouse so we opted for a ride home instead of walking some more. The road was steep and narrow and the bus driver practicing for the Rally Monte Carlo, or it seemed, but this wasn't his first race to the bottom and he brought us safely down to the valley.
Another sweitchback train ride back up the mountain, and we were just in time for a soak in the hot tub (onsen) and the dinner buffet. For those of you who haven't read about the onsen yet--there is a certain etiquette you have to follow, if you don't want to be kicked out of the country by the Seven Samurai--you have to get butt naked and soap yourself down in front of other onsen guests (the baths are segregated by gender) before you get into the tub with them. Yep, you get clean before the tub--the bath is for relaxation only.
After the bath, we put on our yukatas (light robes provided in every hotel/guest house) and went to dinner. It is common to see guests wearing yukatas to dinner or breakfast and in some resort towns it is customary to take an evening stroll in the yukata and geta (traditional shoes), also provided by the hotels/guest houses. The pattern of the yukata is unique to the hotel, so you can tell who is staying in which hotel.
Tomorrow, we're going on another train ride to visit Kamakura and then back to Tokyo where we will stay at a ryokan (traditional guest house) in Asakusa.
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