Off to Hakone

Okay after having quite a "rough day" yesterday, today we are keen to start fresh with our new plan! We woke up like 5.45 am and left our hostel, Khaoson Tokyo Samurai, by 6.30 am >> my original plan was to proceed to Odakyu office to buy the Fuji Hakone Pass we missed yesterday, and then boarded the 7.30 am train heading to Hakone-Yumoto Station.

According to the "lesson learnt" yesterday, I was aware that it shouldn't take more than 20 minutes to get to Shinjuku Station if I take the route suggested on the previous chapter. So all of my calculation should work fine with my initial plan right? ...Haha yeah of course, if everything goes accordingly to my plan, then I wouldn't be writing this remarkable story to you guys! LOL

The thing was we DID take the subway to Shinjuku, but with a totally different route which unnecessarily prolonged our journey for no good! I had no idea what had gotten into my mind at that time! So instead of transiting to Shinjuku Line at Higashi-Nihombashi Station, we got off at Kuramae Station (two stops before my planned destination), and changed to Oedo Line. The result of this impulsive decision costs us a good 45 min of time wasting and we almost missed our train to Hakone!! Thanks to the lady at Odakyu Office, she was really generous and helpful. She understood our situation and helped out so we could board the train in time (like 2 min before the departure!) Whew that was close!! BIG RELIEF.

Right...back to the point, so the train took approximately 1.30 hrs. Today we were quite lucky as the sky was clear and the view of Fujisan standing elegantly along our way to Hakone was absolutely breathtaking!

We arrived safe and sound at Hakone-Yumoto Station, from there we then take a cable car to Gora Station to drop our luggages off first. Roughly, our plan today was a simple one, we will just go and have a look at Owakudani, a volcanic valley with active sulphur vents and hot springs, and that should all cover our day for today.

Well what I like most about Hakone is the transportation system in this little town. Maybe because it's one of the most popular tourist attraction spots in Japan too, that could explain a lot why everything is well equipped here. I was also stunned when I made the travel plan here since there were too many ways to get around this little town and this kinda made me feel confused in some ways Hahaha,

like they have local Hakone Tozan Train, Bus, Cable Car, Hokone Ropeway, and Cruising Sightseeing Boat!! See? I'm not joking! it's too many LOL.

So Owakudani...amazing place for Mt. Fuji viewpoint! If it's not too windy, then this place could be something really special hahaha. Unfortunately, Ching had left her coat at the hostel, and it turned out that the weather up there was freezing cold with a strong gust of wind, so she couldn't wander around that much, leaving all exploring duties solely to me hahaha.

Okay, so I climbed up that sulfuric mountain where I found more hot springs on top. This hot spring is where they boil eggs and transports them back down to sell at the base...Owakudani eggs, if you could imagine the symbolic black egg which they believe having one of them could extend your life for another 7 years. Well...I didn't have it though because I was too busy trying to capture the spectacular view from the summit...which kinda failed miserably because of my stubborn new camera LOL. Anyway, Ching had it, and she said it tasted like a normal egg...so oh well, never mind then haha.

And as I mentioned earlier...Owakudani is also renowned for Mt. Fuji sightseeing point, so from here we were stunned to see how majestic this mountain looks from afar! I was quite speechless myself, reminiscing about the fact that I actually conquered this stunning volcanic mountain last year. Wow this mount is huge and steep indeed haha...I wanted to hug myself to salute the bravery and absurdity I posessed at that moment. Hahaa GOOD JOB NEEN!! you've lost your toe nails from that mission anyway lol. Awww... good old times, I miss that.