Hakone and Fuji!!

The boys were having quite a fun-fest up on the top bunk this morning...hurray, no school today--it's Spring Break and the skies are clear.  When Dave came home from running PT he said it was the clearest it's been here since they came and we are off to see Fuji!  The best views are from Hakone so we were out as soon as we could get things together!

It was just a short hour plus trip to get here.  It was a beautiful

drive up the mountain to this lake.  Lots of switchbacks.

John and the boys were watching the ships take off.  One of these will be our last adventure of the day.  Jill and I went and bought our transportation tickets while John was snapping pictures.  Then we headed down into the shogun village

 From there we headed into the Detached Palace Garden.

 The Cherries and azaleas were stunning.

 But at the observation point Fuji had the spotlight!

Doesn't get much better than this!

 Then down the 210 steps to the path to the bus.

The ride was pretty much a blur as the bus went flying back down the mountain.  It was a narrow road and switchbacks about every 500' or so.  We went through several small towns and past many nice hotels.  This is quite the resort area.

 We stopped for a bite to eat at the train station..there was a bakery there (as always) with sandwiches

and other treats.  We didn't have time to finish it so took it along with us on the train.  The Hakone Tozan Railway is a small 2-car train that winds its way through the forest and lush plants to Gora.  The mountain is so steep that the train does actual switchbacks where they go to one side of the mountain, stop, the engineer gets out and goes to the other end of the train and gets in while the conductor is switching the track to it can go on a new track across the mountain.  

This happened five times.  Very Cool!

There were a dozen or so stops at different hotels and ryokan, some of which date back several centuries.  We got off at Goza and headed up the hill to visit the Craft House.

You could pay and they would assist you in making

a hand blown glass or vase.  It was fascinating to watch.

Then back down the hill to the Cable Car to go up 

another hill.

 

The cable car takes you to Sounzan.  Along the way are several stops.  One is the Hakone Art Museum with Japanese gardens and a display of Japanese pottery and ceramics from the Edo period.  We didn't stop as we were looking forward to the Ropeway.

We hopped on this for the first of two rides...

one to the highest point we could go. 

We rode over this "Great Boiling Valley" where sulfurous steam escapes from vents attesting to the still present volcanic activity in this area.

If you follow the path from the station it will take you to where you can purchase "black eggs".  They are hard-boiled in sulfur water from this area.  Actually they were quite tasty and the

shells quite attractive in the sunshine.  We enjoyed our eggs and then headed back to the Ropeway station and got on another car and headed down to Lake Ashi. 

 

 Proof we rode on the Ropeway!

When we came out of the station our replica ship of a centuries old Man 'O War was just about to leave the dock to take us back to our starting point.  This is one of the best vantage points for Fuji, but it was hazy, even though it was still clear.  What luck for us!!  The boat ride back was really fun..about 30 minutes.

And there just happened to be an ice cream stand near the dock.

I tried the Purple Potato...actually very good!

 We took a stroll through the Cedar Walkway...

 and along the Garden walkway to the car and headed home.

We finished listening to the Mystery of the Purple Pool, another Box Car Children and made it home before Ryan fell asleep.  Had a quick dinner and everybody hit the hay!  Incredible Day!!