Posts
Destination: Hakone,
Kanagawa Prefecture
(Distance from Tokyo
Date: November,
2007
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Do
you have any idea of your “must-do things”
while you are in Japan
The
answer is go to an onsen – hot spring. Definitely a must. Why? Because your physical
presence in Japan
And
a next question would be “where to go?” Mmmm,,,
this is tough to answer. Since we have
tons of onsen places all over the nation, it’s not easy to say “hey this is the
best”. But if you like to visit a good
one nearby Tokyo Tokyo
 |
| View of Mt. Fuji from a cable car near Owakudani |
We had a 2 day trip to Hakone in November, 2007. That was a great time to enjoy looking at the mountain landscape changing the color of leaves to red, orange, and gold.
 |
| Mountains changing the color |
We arrived at the gateway station of the area, Hakone Yomoto, around noon time and transferred to a local train, Hakone Tozan Railway to go up to higher destinations. When we reached Gora station, we rushed into a famous tofu shop, Hakone Gin Tofu, for a quick bite. You can get a cup of tofu with soy sauce on it for JPY 200.
 |
| Yummy Tofu |
It’s very simple but so yummy. And at the next door,
we came across a soba (Japanese noodle) restaurant called Kirakuso. Let’s
get in! Soba tasted much better than we’d
expected and we found other features of this restaurant that were sake and beer
made from soba. It didn’t taste like
noodle, just tasted good sake and beer! Very
smooth and mild.
 |
| Soba Beer |
After lunch, we took a cable car ride to
go up to Owakudani where you can see the dynamic volcanic
landscape and panoramic view of Hakone. Sorry,
we lost the photos of it.
After
Owakudani, another cable car took us down to Lake Ashi
We
visited Hakone Shrine which was located just beside the lake. Legend
has it that the god of this shrine has been here for more than 1,200 years!! The
air of sacredness was surrounding us.
 |
| Hakone Shrine |
 |
| Hakone Shrine gate |
 |
| Shrine gate into the lake |
 |
| A huge sacred tree in the shrine |
We finally checked in our hotel before the dark. We were lucky back then to use a benefit service
provided by the company of my wife that allowed us to stay at this decent hotel
at around JPY 8,000/per person including meals.
 |
| Nap at a hotel room |
Unfortunately
the hotels in Hakone aren’t cheap. So if you don’t like to spend a lot, one-day
trip is the best. Thanks to its accessibility from Tokyo
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Traveling
Tips in Hakone
- Getting there by:
Train; Odakyu Line from Shinjuku Station (90
minutes). JPY 5,000 for a 2-Day Hakone Freepass ticket. (http://www.odakyu.jp/english/freepass/hakone_01.html)
Bus; Bus service wouldn’t be a good option to get
there from Tokyo
Car;
Tomei Expressway (2 -3 hrs) from the
central Tokyo
- To get around the Hakone area:
The
Hakone Freepass works best to explore the Hakone area. It allows you to use the public transportation
services, trains, cable cars, buses, and boat on Lake Ashi
- Accommodation in Hakone:
The
hotel rates in Hakone are expensive. It’s
unavoidable. Finding good accommodation at an inexpensive price might be a tall
order. But you’d better not be stingy to
make your trip memorable. The cheaper,
the worse in Hakone. Although you don’t
have to stay at a super deluxe hotel, those hotels are definitely worth of the
price.
-
Affordable Hotels in Hakone:
- Travel Expenses:
We
spent approximately JPY 18,000 apiece for the 2-day trip including
everything. You might have to prepare
additional JPY 10,000 – 20,000 for your lodging expense. But the total cost wouldn’t much exceed it
thanks to the service package of Hakonne Freepass. Everything else other than
hotel fees remains at the normal price.
- Local
Tourist Information
Center
Hakone
Town Tourist Association (http://www.hakone.or.jp/english/index.html)
Hakne
Navi (http://www.hakonenavi.jp/english/index.html)
No comments:
Post a Comment