Hakone 箱根
Recently I had a few weeks off of school so I decided to spend a few days traveling. I wanted to go someplace cheap, relaxing, and fairly close to Tokyo. I’d heard a lot about how great Hakone is for onsen (hot springs) and it fit my criteria, so Hakone it was.
Just west of Tokyo it was only a 2 hour bus trip from Shinjuku station. Although it was a short trip, it seemed like a completely different country compared to Tokyo. Hakone is a small quaint town nestled in the mountains with lots of nature and scenery. The air was fresh, the views were amazing, and it was quiet enough to appreciate it all.
We spent most of our time relaxing in the onsen and eating & drinking. Aside from that we went to a place up in the mountains where there’s steam gushing out of the ground from where the hot springs are. It’s a pretty cool site to see. Apparently it’s a popular thing for tourists to buy hard-boiled eggs cooked in the spring water. The shells turn black from some junk in the water. Don’t ask me, it’s just the gimmicky thing to do there. So in typical Japanese fashion we lined up and ate black eggs.
I won’t go on and on about the town because there’s plenty already written about it up on the good ol’ Wikipedia. I just thought I’d put up a few photos from the trip, and let everyone know that it’s a nice way to getaway from Tokyo on the cheap.
It was indeed cheap. My girlfriend and I split a room at a resort hotel. Included was 1 night’s stay, onsen, dinner, and all you can eat breakfast for only about ￥10,000 each (about $100 US). On top of that we paid about ￥3,000 ($30 US) each for a round-trip bus ticket (but I think train may be the better way to go).
Below are some of the best photos, but if you’d like as usual there’s also an obscene amount up on Flickr.
