Our Tokyo Trip Day 06 (II) – Lake Ashi & Owakudani Valley

Date: 27 Feb 2009 Friday

Htilton T Hotel Ashigara Mt. Fuji 2nd Station Hakone Lake Hotel
Private Boat cruise on lake Ashi Hakone Sky Gondola Owakudani Valley Hilton T Hotel

13:55 PM Togendai Station æ¡ƒæºå°

Togendai, the gateway to Lake Ashi, is also the terminal for the Hakone Ropeway. In fine weather, passengers aboard the sightseeing cruise can get a fine view of Japan’s most famous peak, Mt. Fuij.

There are four ships on Lake Ashi:

The Vasa, modeled on a ship commisioned by 17th century Swedish King Gustav Adolph, is painted emerald green and decorated with ornately sculpted woodwork.
The Royal, is inspired by the 17th century French sailing warship Soleil Royal, is painted red. It is a double decker promenade and observation deck.
The Frontier, a paddlewheel ship, is modeled after the 19th century American paddlewheel steamers that plied the Mississippi River in those days. It is steered with a stern paddle, a distinguishing feature of paddle wheelers.
The Victory, which went into service in 2007, echoes its namesake, that famous 18th century British warship and veteran of many sea battles.

Photo with The Royal.

A photo with The Vasa.

14:25 PM Hakonemachi-Ko

Htilton T Hotel Ashigara Mt. Fuji 2nd Station Hakone Lake Hotel
Private Boat Cruise on Lake Ashi Hakone Sky Gondola Owakudani Valley Hilton T Hotel

14:50 PM SÅunzan Station æ—©é›²å±±

Taking the Hakone Ropeway gondola to Owakudani.

Htilton T Hotel Ashigara Mt. Fuji 2nd Station Hakone Lake Hotel
Private Boat Cruise on Lake Ashi Hakone Sky Gondola Owakudani Valley Hilton T Hotel

15:15 PM Owakudani å¤§æ¶Œè°·

The Owakudani Valley is about 10 minutes walk away from the Owakudani station. We were welcome by the pungent sulfurous fume and clouds of steam all around us as we approached the volcanic zone. We decided to walk all the way up the slippery stairs to the Owakudani Valley to see the sulfurous hot spring water and to get our black coloured shell eggs.

Here you can purchase eggs that are cooked in the naturally hot water. The shells of these eggs are blackened by the sulfur water and it is said that every egg will prolong one’s life by seven years.

JR queuing to get our eggs.

Our pack of eggs.

15:50 PM Back to Owakudani Station

16:00 PM Back on the coach

Had our eggs.

17:06 PM Odawara Sation å°ç”°åŽŸé§…, Kanagawa

The tour ended at Odawara Station, where the group catch the Shinkansen back to Tokyo. The Shinkansen would be departing for Tokyo at 17:11 PM and 17:40 PM. Hope the group managed to catch the 17:11 PM Shinkansen. Those returning by coach were given a 15 minutes break at the station to get some snacks. We realised that we were the only ones returning by coach! Haha. The decision to travel back by coach would cost us an extra 40 minutes back to our hotel but would also save us another 6000 Yen.