R&R in Hakone

After feeling rather exhausted from walking & sightseeing in Kyoto and Nara, we made a stop in Hakone before we headed back to the hustle and bustle of Tokyo. Located less than 100 kilometers from Tokyo, Hakone was famous for its hot springs, outdoor activities, and natural beauty. It was also the perfect stop for some rest and relaxation!

We got in on Wednesday, and our first stop was at Owakudani Crater, an area of bubbling hot springs that still exists 3,000 years after Mount Hakone, now an extinct volcano, erupted. It's nicknamed "The Valley of Hell" and if you look at the picture below, you can probably figure out why.

At the crater, our guide bought us a couple of eggs and cooked them in the hot springs! Apparently, this is the thing to do at Owakudani, and the Japanese believe it's lucky to eat the egg (adds 7 extra years to your life). The iron sulfite in the water changed the color of the egg shells from white to black! We each had one, and now I'm wondering if the egg really did add seven years to my life.

Our next stop was at Lake Ashi, where we admired the picturesque scenery (and somewhat kitschy boats).

We rode a pirate's ship to cross the lake. AARRRGGHH!!!!

When we got to the other side of the lake, we walked around and admired the scenery

Then we stopped for a pose with a couple of Japanese boys

Finally, we reached our ryokan! For those of you who don't know, a ryokan is a traditional Japanese inn that's also a spa resort. You sleep on a tatami-matted floor and enjoy soaking in the hot springs, which are suppose to relieve muscle fatigue (which was much needed after all the walking we did!) and purify your system. Our ryokan also served spa-like meals in the rooms, so it was nice to have a little bit of rest and relaxation mid-way through our trip! Here's a view of our ryokan from the distance:

Here's a view of our room (with my mom donning a yukuta robe & pretending to be Japanese)! Anybody want tea?

Uncle Vincent pretending to be Japanese

and me pretending to be Japanese!

We ate a rather lavish meal that consisted of fish and tofu

After dinner, well, since there wasn't any internet access or anything else to do besides soaking in the hot springs, we got a little bored...now what?

So we laid around and took some silly pictures...like me being FOBBY...

and my mom pretending to be a fish

We also played around with the self-timer on the camera (after I saw Lauren's family photo in Paris :) thanks for the idea!)...but basically we went to bed at 9 pm because we didn't know what to do! In fact, I felt like we had a slumber party a la Japanois style...

But when we woke up the morning we saw a really pretty view outside the window...and enjoyed one more soak in the hotsprings

Then we packed up, hopped on the train and went to Tokyo! Stay tuned for the next post!