Wow, what a 7 days we’ve had.
We left Tokyo, following us purchasing the Hakone and Enoshima/Kamakura pass, which that gave us free access to all buses, boats, gondola’s, cable cars and trains in the area.
During the days we were there we visited the Owakudani volcanic area, including foot spa’s at cafes – so you could have a long black, whilst soaking your feet. We also went to view Odawara Castle, Mount Fuji (unfortunately its not the climbing season), took a boat across Lake Ashi, visited the Hakone-Jin ja Shrine, and tried the hard boiled eggs that had been cooked through volcanic heat (turning the shells black.
We also chose to visit Enoshima and Kamakora on the rail pass which gave us access to an area 2 hours away that is full of temples and shrines. The key sites includes Kotoku-in (Great Buddha, or a selfie of Alan), Hasadear Temple and we also saw a wedding at the Tsurugaoka Hachimangu Shrine.
To finish off our stay in Hakone we decided to take a Japanese onsen. As a one off experience we also went to an onsen to soak in the thermal waters – note that clothes CANNOT be worn and therefore we were ‘butt naked’!! (sorry Bex for the embarrassing picture), but we decide on a private outdoor one. It was so relaxing sitting looking at the blue sky, surrounded by giant bamboo soaking our tired bodies.
Following a whole day of planning we at long last acquired the JR (Japan Railway) Pass for 7 days (starting on 27 February), which has given us unlimited use of both JR bullet trains and JR local trains. During this time we are expecting to cover approx 2,000 kms, therefore the next update will cover our time using the JR pass.