Day 4: Hakone

Finally, a relatively relax day trip to Hakone Park.. definitely more sitting than standing or walking.. ha ha! We enjoyed the scenery during the 1.5 hour journey on the Odakyu Limited Express 'Romancecar'.. the bonsai trees in quaint gardens.. vegetables patches (I think they were mostly radish and sweet potato).. cottages with Japanese tatched roof.. and it rained for the first time since we landed in Tokyo.

When we arrived at Hakone-Yumoto, we were greeted by rows of shops selling intricately designed products.. chopsticks.. bowls.. bamboo mats.. everything looked very tempting but also very expensive.. which was probably good in a way? Ha ha ha! Jared fell asleep on the winding bus ride up the mountain to Motohakone-Ko.. which we later discovered was bad idea.. cos he promptly vomitted after alighting. Fortunately, I had a couple of air-sick bags with me (that's what mums do).. and only a blob ended up on the pathway. Then lo and behold.. a grouchy old man appeared out of nowhere.. proceeded to pour a bucket of water to wash away the puke.. all the while tirading in Japanese.. er.. I think he wanted us to cross the road and puke there? In front of his rival's shop??? We apologised by saying 'Solly.. solly..' in our best Japanese accent.. bowed repeatedly.. and moved quickly away from the vicinity!!!

Next, we took a slow walk along the Ancient Cedar Avenue.. hundreds of years old towering trees that were planted by the Edo Shogunate in 1618. This helped to somewhat settle Jared's stomach before we headed for the Hakonemachi pier to catch the Hakone Sightseeing Cruise Ship.. sailed across Lake Ashi on the top deck with the cool breeze caressing our faces.. and landed in Togendai where we took the Hakone Ropeway up to the volcanic mountains.

We were greeted by the over-powering smell of sulfur at Owakudani, which apparently wasn't recommended for people with asthma or heart conditions.. tried the famous smoked 'Black Eggs', which we suspect, were cooked by burying them in the hot sand.. but to our surprise and relief.. they looked the same inside and tasted no different from the usual hard-boiled eggs!

We continued our journey to Sounzan.. and then downhill to Gora via the Hakone Tozan Cablecar.. similar to the one up the Penang Hill.. except for the modern-looking and clean carriages.. ha ha! To top it all off, we had a taste of the riding in the local train.. screeching and swaying.. back to Hakone-Yumoto town.