Hakone and the (almost) view of Mount Fuji -

Our sightseeing in Tokyo was limited to more modern attractions. This included a tour upto the 42nd floor of the government building that gave us an excellent view of Tokyo and the breathtaking sunset behind Mount Fuji. It was on this day that we decided we had to take a trip out to near there (ok we weren’t going to climb it) and visit a place called Hakone.




We arrived on the Shinkansen (bullet train) which like all the other transport was superior to anything else we’d been on. The Japanese don’t feel the need to cram in as many people as possible to make as much money per sq ft as possible, as the rest of the world. In Hakone we had our first Japanese hot spring (Onsen). The Onsens were split male and female and everyone entered the baths naked. There was an inside Jacuzzi style bath and outside a very pleasant and tranquil hot spring underneath the forest of trees on the hill side. It was very relaxing and a lovely setting. The afternoon took us around the lakes of Hakone (supposedly for views of Mount Fuji), but unfortunately the mountain was covered by cloud.

Still, this didn’t stop us having a great time as we took a cable car up another mountain which was still volcanically active. As we approached we could see the steam bursting out of crevices of the snow topped peaks and surrounding slopes. It was freezing up there...but then we were treated to....boiled eggs! Yes, not the most traditional Japanese delicacy (in fact through most of our trip so far we’d ended up adding raw egg to most of our food), but these eggs took on a unique appearance. The outer shells were black as they’d been boiled in the pools of the mountain – gives you an idea of how hot the steam and water was! They were pretty tasty too...although along with the sulphur smell and the eggs it did get a bit stinky up there.

So, we’d had a great time in Tokyo, even had a few drinks one night! and having spent just under a week, decided to make the trip down to see a bit more historical culture in the old Japanese capital of Kyoto – not just a coincidence that this is an anagram of Tokyo methinks! We went in style and took the Shinkansen again!