Arrived Hakone

Hi all,

We packed up this morning and caught the train from Asakusa Station to Tokyo Station. We were very lucky Asakusa is the start of the line, so we got seats and space for our bags. It quickly become crazy full as it was peak hour - I had flashbacks to living in London!! We somehow made it out of the train at our stop though before the doors shut, bags and all. We then walked to the Shinkansen platform at Tokyo station and caught out first fast train of the trip. It travelled 80 km in 30 minutes (so 160 km/h). Before we boarded, they cleaned the train thoroughly and rotated the seats to face the direction of travel, all within about 5 minutes. There was a team of cleaners that were very efficient.

We exited the train in Odawara, and picked up our Hakone passes. The 'whoosh' of the fast trains passing through the station was insane - they go so fast! Many even faster than ours today as they were travelling longer stretches. We next boarded a local train to Hakone Yumoto, and then the Hakone Tozan Railway. We were the only people on board with cases, as many people just day trip here from Tokyo as we were meant to do in 2020 when we had less time. I am glad with more time up our sleeve this time around that we have two days here. This train ride reminded me of the Kandy to Ella trip in Sri Lanka. Crowded, open windows and pretty greenery and flowers. Today, hydrangeas surrounded the train tracks in all different colours. A quirk on this part of the journey were the switchbacks we had to do to ascend.

The Hakone Tozan Railway train took us to Gora, a village within the Hakone area. We stored our luggage here at the station and then got the Hakone Tozan Cable Car (which was really a funicular, which started in 1921) and then the Hakone Tozan Ropeway (which is what we would call a cable car). The ropeway took us to Owakudani, a sulphuric area approximately 1000m above sea level and high above Gora. You could smell the sulphur from the cable car. Despite a cloudy weather forecast, the skies were blue, sunny and bright today. However, we could only see the very top of Mt Fuji as we climbed over the hill in the cable car. I had told myself we likely wouldn't see it at all, so this was a nice surprise. We will try our luck again tomorrow - who knows!!

Once up the top, we checked out the sulphuric area and then went into some shops and saw the black eggs the area is famous for. Next we went into the Geothermal Museum, which was small but worth visiting. We learned about the hot springs the area is famous for, and the many onsens that the water is pumped to nearby in Hakone. The sulphur and other minerals being pumped through block the pipes very easily, so they are cleaned twice a day by the Yumori caretakers here so the water can continue to be pumped. The hot springs occur due to the volcanic activity underground, and with volcanic activity comes earthquakes as well. In 2015, the highest seismic activity recorded in the area since observations started occurred, with a whopping 1134 tremors in one day on May 15! As a result, the area including the cable car etc were closed for almost a year while this was all monitored and it was ensured everything was safe again.

We also learned about the black eggs. They're cooked in the thermal waters here for 60 minutes at 80 degrees, and then they go black. They're meant to be quite good for you to consume, but we did not partake. Mum and Dad enjoyed a soft serve ice cream though (no luck for me, as not allowed during pregnancy!). It is still unknown why the eggs only go black in this area, not other hot spring areas.

We caught the ropeway back down to Gora (we will be going further tomorrow, when we use our Hakone passes to go up again and onto another ropeway) and then had a quick lunch from a convenience store. There are not many options food wise around here as it's more isolated. Then we walked to the Hakone Open Air Museum, Japan's first open air museum, that opened in 1969. We enjoyed looking at lots of different sculptures (some we liked, some we thought very weird) in the sunshine. We particularly enjoyed a hall about Picasso, and I especially enjoyed the 18m tall 'Symphonic Sculpture' tower which had lead light windows inside around its internal spiral staircase. I somehow managed to (slowly) climb the staircase and ascend to the top, and the views were definitely worth it. I took the way down even slower, but made it with no issues which was good!!

We headed back to Gora Station and got our luggage, then caught a bus for 20 minutes to our accommodation. An old friend from high school, Juley, had recommended our accommodation as she stayed here with her husband last October. It's a ryokan style (traditional Japanese style) accommodation, in a quiet area. We are sleeping on the floor on pretty thin mattresses (we doubled mine!) and we have our own private bath overlooking the trees. I can't really use it as the water is hot and that's another pregnancy no no, but I'm going to check out the view from it tomorrow without it being filled. Our dinner is included here too. It would have been good if not pregnant, but frustratingly despite me reaching out in advance and requesting no raw food and no seafood, they removed some of these items but then embedded them within many of my appetisers. I didn't realise until I had already started eating. The meat and hot food was nice though. I'm finding eating here whilst pregnant pretty stressful to be honest. I think women here grow up living on raw food and fish etc, whereas we don't so our stomachs and immune systems aren't used to it and therein lies the risk. As a result, they don't seem to understand when you say you are pregnant. Mum and I made a quick trip to the convenience store next door and stocked up on crackers and lollies that I'm going to keep in my bag as emergency food.

Looking forward to more views and nature tomorrow. Come onnnnnn Fuji views! Cross your fingers!!

Love to all
Claire
Xoxox