Hakone

Impressions

From the bright lights of Tokyo, we traveled to the hot springs of Hakone. The
scenery is beautiful and the peaceful surrounding contrasts that of Tokyo.

For those of you who follow the anime series called InitalD, you'll be interested to know that the roads of Hakone are exactly like those of shown in the cartoon series. The roads would be quite fun to drive on in the middle of the night with no cars about. There's also a large amount of modified sports cars in the area, so maybe they do meet up at night to race up and down the mountain???

Food

• The black eggs of Owakudani - Taste like normal eggs, but black on the outside.
• Kaiseki style dinner and breakfast at a Ryokan (traditional Japanese inn) - Kaiseki style focuses heavily on the presentation. There was about 40 different dishes each presented beautifully on the plate. The food was yummy, but the best part was the fact that everything was presented beautifully.

Highlights

• Staying at the Ryokan. The place we stayed at was awesome, you catch a private cable car down into the valley, you are treated like royalty. Everything is looked after. The dinner is served by a maid (her name is Yoko) as well as breakfast. The best part was the hot spring. Taking a bath outdoors, in the hot springs while looking at the stars is simply one of the best experiences you can have.
• It started snowing the first day we were there, and made the scenery that much prettier.
• Seeing Mount Fuji at Lake Ashi and Hakone detached palace.
• General Scenic views of the mountain