Hakone

Last weekend we took a trip down to Hakone to relax for one night at an onsen hotel. 

Clever Rika managed to book us seats near the front of the Romance Car VSE express.

We stayed at Kowakien, about halfway between Hakone Yumoto station and Hakone town / Lake Ashi.   The 220 room hotel is located in a l0,000 m3 Japanese garden.  This lovely site was formerly the  Mitsui family holiday house.

Hakone Kowakien Hotel

View from hotel, NE down the valley.  The ridge ahead to the left is the North rim of the caldera of the Hakone Volcano which is about 10km across.   The hotel is on the north side of one of the mountains  in the middle of the caldera (resurgent lava dome).   Hakone Yumoto,  literally 'Hakone source-of-hot-water',  is down the valley out of sight to the right.

Hannah and Rika in the hotel after dinner.

On Sunday the weather was lovely so we decided to do the classic Hakone round trip.  First we took a bus to Hakone town on the shores of Lake Ashi.

Hannah and Rika at the Bus-stop.

On the lake-front at Moto Hakone looking west to Mt Fuji.   Lake Ashi  is the south side of the caldera and was formed about 3,000 years ago when an eruption dammed the river outlet.

Next leg is the 'Pirate Ship' across lake Ashi to Togendai.

We got to have our photo taken with a real pirate

Hannah and Rika on the deck.

Hannah was briefly disappointed when we didn't have a 100 yen cointo use the binoculars on the boat.

We had a nice lunch at Togendai on the lakefront.  Amazingly for a Sunday afternoon there was only one other group in the restaurant.   We then went for a short ride in the duck boats.   Hannah drove, I provided power and Rika encouraged us.

Then we took the ropeway from Togendai up to Owakudani.

Looking west from the ropeway to Mt Fuji.

Owakudani, was the 'high-point' of the day.

We could enjoy the panoramic view south-west to Mishima and Saruga Bay, and west to Mt Fuji.   The ridge in the foreground is the west rim of the caldera of the Hacone volcano.    Owakududani itself is a volcanically active area with steam vents, sulpher and bubbling pools....

But more importantly, ice-cream!

Finally we took ropeway from Owakudani to Souzan, cable-car to Gora and finally switch-back railway down to Hakone Yumoto by 4pm to catch our train home.

Hakone volcano from the NW