hakone

Two entries in one month, what is this?!

Anyway, I have this horrible habit of not posting about things until months after or worse--and more often--never but this one gets a post the day after!

Again.

WHAT IS THIS. 

My dad hasn't been to Japan since September 2010 and I had a bit more time to plan where I wanted to take him this time. Unfortunately what I didn't have was time as he arrived Friday night and already took a bus back towards Narita to stay in an airport hotel this afternoon. :(


However! We spent a good 6 hours in Hakone and managed to get done way more than I expected!

2012.03.24 Hakone

Unfortunately, we got a late start so we didn't get out of Tokyo until 11:40 but the ride was actually really nice and well, my dad likes trains so :D

First, the train first dropped us off in Hakone-Yumoto where we got on a bus to go a little bit southwest to Lake Ashi. It was actually raining that morning but my time with my dad was limited so I took him there anyway. There was nothing you could do about the clouds so please excuse the heavy editing. Otherwise all the photos turned out way too dark.

I don't know how the sky turned out this blue, but even without PS they were like, whoa

You can see the tori gates all the way in the distance!

We basically rode a "pirate ship" modeled to look just like a man-of-war from one end of the lake to the other. Which, not gonna lie, was pretty cool despite it's campy-ness. It dropped us off here↓ at Togendai where we rode the ropeway further up the mountain.

View of Mount Fuji from the ropeway car!

The ropeway takes you all the way up to Owakudani which is famous for its sulfur vents and hot springs. And black eggs!

Easily one of the coolest places I've ever been! It was really cold way up on the mountain like this but the vents made it so warm. Literally everyone that walked by the water kept commenting on it and wondering if it was actually hot.

It's not. Warm but not hot. :D

We then took the cable back down the mountain to Sounzan. On the way, you pass over the sulfur valley and in the third photo down you can actually see all the way to the Pacific Ocean. There wasn't much to do there once we got to the bottom so we ended up getting on the cable car and riding down to Gora.

Again realized we couldn't do much--and with a lack of picture opportunity--I bought some souvenirs for work and friends and we hopped on yet another mode of transportation, the Hakone Tozan line.

Just like the bus ride up the mountain, the train ride down is equally as windy and scenic. Honestly it's worth it just to ride every mode of transportation possible for the views. Because of the steep terrain though, there's three different switch backs which is a bit disorienting at first. The photo below is from one of them!

By the time we got back to Hakone-Yumoto, my dad and I were both exhausted and had about an hour to kill before our train back to Tokyo. We started walking on the main street but nothing was really popping out at us (or me rather, Dad can't read a thing lol) until we popped down a side-alley and found this.

A super nice-looking yet affordable restaurant that served yuba-don. Basically soy milk skin and rice.

I was really excited because I actually really love eating the special food of each area that I go to. I used to do it when I traveled for lives and I'm still happy to do it now. Plus I'll try anything at least once so. :)

I may be my mother's clone to a frightening extent but I really, really love my dad and times I get to spend with him are really rare so this was a really wonderful experience for me. I've never been to Hakone either and I'm so happy my dad got to see so many things despite our time being so limited.

Next time both of my parents, and hopefully my brother, will finally come visit me here so I can't wait to take them around the rest of the country, too. There's still so much I haven't seen and done here and I really can't wait. ♥