Our 68th entry in this blog is our trip, again, to Hakone.  This has always been our favorite nature getaway and this is Ate Rei and Sai’s second time.  Their first time was just 2 years ago and is also being blogged out here -> https://wheredidwegoblog.wordpress.com/2016/11/02/our-trip-to-hakone/

Since Ate Rei and Sai is much older this time, I had no problems in waking them up.  Everyone was so excited specially since we are not only the ones to go there, but also Tito RC’s family: we have Tita Jo, Rai Rai, and baby Rachel.  And Sai is here is soooo excited to start the day.

As always we started our tour at the Open Air Museum, which I separated in another blog page (previous entry from this one).  After that, we proceed to Owakudani for the black egg snacks.  We rode the Hakone Ropeway.  This connects Sounzan Station with Togendai Station (at the shore of Lake Ashinoko) and stops at Owakudani and Ubako stations on the way. The ropeway is fully covered by the Hakone Free Pass.

The ropeway’s gondolas depart every minute and fit around ten people each.  Along the journey, passengers can enjoy views of the active, sulfuric hot spring sources of the Owakudani Valley between Sounzan and Owakudani and of Lake Ashinoko and Mount Fuji between Owakudani and Togendai if visibility allows.  And alas, we have a perfect view of Mount Fuji on our way to Owakudani.

We headed for the stores at the base of the sulfuric valley in Owakudani to buy the black eggs.  Here is Ate Rei covering her nose because of the very distinct odor of sulfur that will remind you that you are in a very live volcanic valley.  The black eggs, or commonly called “Kuro-Tamago” by the locals are perfectly safe, although they may smell like sulfur. They are believed to add a few years to your life — five to seven years?  Hmmm… makes me want to devour the whole pack.

We had a good view of Mount Fuji so here we are taking lots of pictures with Fuji-sama.

The next stop, as always (we need to change our route next time), is the pirate ship.  There are 3 pirate ships, which I think I have already ridden all of them, we have the Victory, Vasa, and Royal II.  This time, we ride the Victory, we saw the Vasa along the route, and we saw Royal II at the port in Hakone-Machi.  While waiting for the ship to start sailing, everybody was busy eating their black eggs.  And Sai was sound asleep.

“The Victory is modeled after the famous HMS Victory, a warship built in England in the 18th century that took part in many historic sea battles and today is preserved and on display as a museum ship. The ship’s colors, interior, figurehead, and other features recreate the ambiance of a bygone era.” –https://www.hakone-kankosen.co.jp

It was still 4:00pm when we arrived at Hakone-machi but this part of the town sleeps early.  🙂 Most of their shops and restaurants closes by 4:30pm.  So we took the time to take photos of the area while waiting for the bus to our next stop.

It is a good thing there is still my favorite ice cream shop which is always foreigner friendly.  They also tried to speak in Tagalog and made us welcome 🙂  Our next stop is the Hotel Ra Kuun which I will also be adding it as a separate blog (try to see the next blog from this one).

So after our overnight stay at the hotel,  we went back to the lake to count some ships 🙂

Mount Fuji was still there, loud and clear.  Here is Ate Rei and Sai, loaded from breakfast and ready to start a new day of walking. hehe 🙂

We cannot leave Hakone without a photo of the Lake Ashi and its surrounding area known as the National Park of Hakone.

This will not be our last visit, we are hoping to be back very soon. 🙂