SUNDAY - HAKONE 
ŌWAKUDANI, LAKE ASHI

Back on the subway to the Shinjuku station and to catch the train down to Hakone. It was the most disappointing day of the trip. Firstly I forgot to bring my mp3 player with me that morning. It was almost a two hour trip and some music could have helped. Then I was so concerned about catching the train I forgot to buy a newspaper before leaving. So basically it was a long and boring train ride.
One of the things I wanted to do on the trip to Hakone was to get some photos of Mount Fuji. I got this shot through the window of the train. Get a good look. Sadly, it is the best photo I got.
Some of the Japanese countryside from the train.
The street near the Hakone-Yumoto station.
I'm no expert, but I'm guessing they sell seafood.
The Hakone Tozan Railway runs from Hakone-Yumoto up to Gora.
The route takes passengers from an altitude of 108 meters to 553 meters.
There's Gora. Not much to see here. In fact, most of the trip on this day was simply riding various modes of transportation. Gee, fun. From here it was a cablecar ride up to Sounzan.
From Sounzan to Togendai it is the Hakone Ropeway.
Here is another funny translation from Japanese into English. It is trying to warn people of the automatic door.
The ropeway goes over Owakudani.
It is a crater created in the last eruption of Mount Hakone some three thousand years ago. The area is known for its sulfurous fumes and hot springs. They must do some sulfur mining there too from the look of things.
I think that's a little visitors center down there.
There are the automatic doors we were warned about.
All the trains and cablecars and ropeways were to get here, Lake Ashi.
It's kind of blurry, but the sign says "ENTRANCE. Please wait for a while."
There are sightseeing boats that cross the lake. This one is actually a replica of the Vasa I saw in the the Vasamuseum in Stockholm. That one sank on it maiden voyage. That doesn't exactly fill riders with confidence.
Maybe if the Vasa had a modern bridge like this one, it wouldn't have capsized.
I hadn't eaten since the chocolate pastry I had for breakfast, so I had a box of these potato straws. They were good. That little giraffe on the package wouldn't lie.
I think this might be a hotel.
There's the other boat.
On that peninsula was once a palace. We'll see that a little later.

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