Date: 16th October 2024
Travelled: 120 kms fromTokyo to Hakone
Visited: Hakone Open Air Museum, Hakone Ropeway and Lake Ashi
Stayed: MyStays Gotanda Station, Tokyo
Budget: 21 days @ $XX per day
Today we throw caution to the wind and take an optional tour on offer to Hakone. A$100 per person it seems reasonable and gets us out of Tokyo for the day. We take our normal walk get some paninis from a small deli nearby for lunch, then have breakfast and walk out to the bus.
Serena informs us itโs two hours or a little more to Hakone depending on the traffic. All 3 locations we visit today are within the Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park. As we continue south-west loosely following Tokyo Bay we get some glimpses of Mount Fuji, not snow capped at present itโs been a long summer.
Eventually we turn inland, the landscape quickly changes to dense forest as the bus winds its way up the gorge. The traffic slows as the road narrows and passing other buses and trucks becomes more difficult. We safely arrive at the Hakone Open-Air Museum making our way inside.
The museum is set on a series of grassed terraces following the slope down the hill. We thought it very impressive with a wide range of large sculptures some from Japanese artists but mostly from outside Japan. Some examples follow.
Most impressive was the Picasso Gallery (sorry no photos allowed). The gallery timelines Picassoโs life with various artworks and photos. Fabulous if you like Picasso.
From the museum we travel on about 30 minutes up the mountain to the Hakone Ropeway. The Ropeway is actually a cable car similar to those we have travelled along numerous times in Europe. We arrive at the top station which overlooks Owakudani, the volcanic valley below. The smell of sulphur is almost overpowering, thankfully the breeze helped.
We take in the treeless valley littered with volcanic vents emitting steam and fumes before retreating to a restaurant to await our turn on the gondola. By the way, apart from the acrid smell of the sulphur it was cold up there and we werenโt really dressed for it.
Serena tells us to alight the Gondala at Lake Ashi Station and we make our way to the dock and board our ferry. Thankfully itโs much warmer down here, to Pam delight. The ferry has a very Jolly Roger theme with masts and sails there for visual rather than practical reasons.
Our trip across the lake takes about 20 minutes, everyone hoping for another glimpse of Mount Fuji but itโs lost in the mist.
Then where back on the bus for the two hour journey back to Gotanda and the Hotel. After a shower and a refreshing beverage we wander off for dinner, most likely something Japanese.
Michael + Pam
