So where we last left off, we had taken a nice sleep at our Ryokan (the Japanese style hotel) and we woke up early ready to explore the town. The video below shows a bit of how peaceful and tranquil it was. We looked around and said "Ohio Gozimas" which means "Good Morning"
Unfortunately, we started walking at six in the morning and nothing was open until nine. So we walked around the neighborhood and bumped into a Lawson - which is a Japanese convenience store. We were able to buy a very tasty breakfast, eat some Japanese pastries, and had some famous Japanese Iced Coffee. On hot summer days, the iced coffee was a great way to keep cool and still get your caffeine fix.
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| Here is how the Gora Station looked like |
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| This is the Hokone Cable Car |
Following, we made our up to the Hakone Cable Car. This train was literally dragged up the mountain by a very strong cable. Once you got to the top of the mountain, you had some awesome views of the mountains and the country side.
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| View from the top |
From there, we took the Hokone Ropeway - which is a gondola suspended over the mountain - to the top of the Volcano where Lake Ashi is. The ropeway was pretty awesome, you had an awesome view of the mountains, the forestry. We even rode over the sulfur mines - which they gave you a cloth to help avoid smelling the nasty smell.
We took the Ropeway all the to the end, by Lake Ashi. From there, we took a bus to a little town called Hakoneen. (The name reminded me so much of Halloween). We were so excited cause we found a brochure in our Ryokan about Hakoneen and it has an aquarium, shopping center, and restaurants.
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| Lake Ashi |
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| Lake Ashi |
When we arrived, we felt the brochure may have oversold the park. The aquarium was a bit run down - though the seals were adorable. The shopping was only souvenir stands (some of yall got souvenirs from there!). The food was good, but we knew we could find something better in town.
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| Cute Seal |
We went back on the bus, to catch the ropeway, we stopped by the sulfur mine to have a localized treat - black eggs. In Hakone, they boil these eggs in the sulfur water. The eggs then get a black shell around them. Local saying is that if you eat this egg, you add seven years to your life. Josh ate it, I did not. Josh actually ate two, so guess he's going to live 14 years longer than me!
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| Hakone Black Eggs |
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| Hello Kitty Says Hello |
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| Josh Trying the egg |
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| Josh says it tastes like a normal egg |
Following our lunch, we went to the Hakone Open Air Museum. This is a museum with tons of sculptures laid out in the open. You stroll around the gardens admiring the beautiful artwork. They also had a Picasso exhibit inside, but photography was forbidden.
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| A sample of the sculptures - I'll do a separate post on the museum |
After we left the Open Air Musuem, we went to eat dinner at a famous Gyoza place. This is place is called Gyoza Center. Gyoza are little dumplings made with various ingredients. We had some with chicken, crab, beef, pork, veggies, so many different flavors and combinations. All were very good.
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| Gyoza! |
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| Gyoza! |
We then started walking back to the Ryokan, when we noticed a bar had opened up. We sat there, had some local beer which was delicious. We relaxed for a bit before returning to the Ryokan for a final night of sleep. The next morning, we begin our adventure to the great city of Kyoto.
Here is the snapchat of the day:
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