I took one thursday off (which Kaoru has off work anyway) and we went to Hakone. \u00a0We left home about 8.00, so it was a pretty early start to the day. \u00a0It was about an hour by train, towards Mount Fuji. \u00a0We got a 2 day ticket which let us catch the cable car (tram), ropeway (cable car), boat and buses. \u00a0So we got a map and planned the day.<\/p>\n
The weather was nice, albeit a bit on the chilly side. \u00a0I was starting to regret not packing a beanie or scarf! \u00a0Especially when we were on the water. \u00a0We had a nice stroll through Cedar Avenue, which was the old road between Edo (what we now call Tokyo) and Kyoto – from the days long before cars. \u00a0The Cedar trees provided shelter from the sun in summer, and the snow in winter.<\/p>\n
As we caught the ropeway up the mountain, there was a strong smell of sulphur, and we could see steam coming out of the side of the mountain. \u00a0From the stop halfway, we walked to a closer viewing area, where the smell was quite strong, and we were given an opportunity to buy an egg that was cooked in the hot spring water. \u00a0Each egg is supposed to increase your life by 7 years (I think). \u00a0We passed on that – something about eating a black egg didn’t work for me.<\/p>\n
It was quite late by the time we got home, and we were both very tired. \u00a0We slept on the train a bit (as you do, in Japan), and I also did a bit of Hiragana studying. \u00a0We opted for home delivery pizza for dinner.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I took one thursday off (which Kaoru has off work anyway) and we went to Hakone. \u00a0We left home about 8.00, so it was a pretty early start to the day. \u00a0It was about an hour by train, towards Mount Fuji. \u00a0We got a 2 day ticket which let us catch the cable car (tram), … Continue reading