Weekend in Hakone

My friends and I spent a couple days in Hakone, which is located in the mountains of Kanagawa (around a two hour bus ride from Tokyo). There are many onsen in the area, including one where we were staying, and a lake and mountains.

We visited a lot of places. First, we took the ropeway up the mountain to sulfur area. It was pretty cloudy that day and steam from the mine added to the fog. We ate black onsen eggs, which are said to increase your life by seven years or something like that. We went back down the mountain and went to ride the pirate shop across Lake Asa. We bought the Hakone Free Pass so we could use the buses and ropeway, and it also allowed you to ride on the boat.

On the other side of the lake was a tori gate on the water, similar to Itsukushima shrine in Hiroshima. There was a huge line to take pictures in front of it, so we just walked around in the area instead.

In the afternoon we visited the Open Air Museum. It had a bunch of outdoor exhibits, a Picasso exhibit, and a playground for kids. My favorite part was this small tower you could take the stairs up and it had an observation deck at the top.

The next day I went back on the ropeway and I took it to the top. It went straight through the steam from the sulfur mines so it looked like the cars were floating in the air. After going back down, my friends and I rented a swan boat and we paddled around the lake. We had lunch in the area, bought some souvenirs, and took the bus back to Tokyo in the afternoon.

On clear days, you can see Mt Fuji in the distance, but it was rainy and cloudy for our trip. The foggy mountains were pretty nice though, and it kind of reminded me of Kula on a rainy day. The whole area was full of greenery and mountains, a nice break from the city.