Mishima & Hakone, Japan

Back to my Japan post... :) After spending a week in Kyoto, we took the Shinkansen to Mishima, Shizuoka. Thank god my JR pass was still valid....muhahaha. There we stayed with our friend Paul, so we saved alot on accommodation. It was actually a really fun experience staying in a typical Japanese Apartment. It's actually quite spacious, but then it is the suburb. 

the suburb is really peaceful, clean and almost every empty corner they plant vegetables, fruits and they even grow rice

alot of big fishy in the drain. amazing

another favorite of mine is this 24 hours hypermarket. After 9pm all sushi is 1/2 price ;)

we bought a 3 days Hakone Free Pass(a special pass to explore Hakone) by Odakyu Railway from Mishima Station, which cost us about 4,400yen / adult. There are also a 2 days pass

for more info about the Hakone Free Pass ------> http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2358_008.html

the pass is really worth it, besides having unlimited use of Odakyu affiliated buses, trains, boats, cable cars and rope-ways within the Hakone free area, it's also convenient. Even the bus fair from Mishima Station to Lake Ashi cost almost 1000yen 1 way, so the Hakone Free Pass is definitely worth it.

the bus ride from Mishima Station to Hakonemachi took about 1 hour

it was quite a bus ride but it was worth it. The view was amazing though the weather wasn't too good.

This is Lake Ashi

Boon @ Hakone

from there we will take a boat ride

 not just a boat...a pirate boat..... :D

it don't look abit like the pirate boat in one piece(Japanese manga series)

Lake Ashi, we were really unlucky, half way through the rain started to pour and we didn't manage to see Mount Fuji :(

the boat made 2 stops, 1st one @ Motohakone-ko and the last 1 is Togendai-ko

from Togendai-ko we then took the Hakone Ropeway

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to Owakudani (literally means Great Boiling Valley) or also known as The Valley of Hell (Jigoku-dani), which was formed before Christ by volcanic explosion about 3000 years ago

there were few souvenir shops that sells this black egg ( Kuro-tamago), a local specialty, hard boiled eggs in the hot springs. Some said that eating the eggs can increase longevity. Eating 1 is said to add 7 years to your life and eating too much won't make you immortal also and also highly unadvised. The most you may eat up to 2 and half that add 17 years to your life, or so they said

Warning!!!

Owakudani is a volcanic valley with active sulfur vents and hot spring

the sulfur smell was quite strong as we approached nearer the hot spring 

the wind was strong, drizzling and cold but luckily the steam from the hot spring even our the coldness 

didn't expect the weather so cold

back to the Ropeway

view of The Valley of Hell from the Ropeway

ticket price for the Hakone Ropeway. Thank god we have the Hakone Free Pass!

We then took the Hakone Tozan Cable-car, it;s kind of the same as the one in Penang Hill, Penang, Malaysia, but it's more spacious and more seats too :P

there are 5 stops in total and we got down @ Koenshimo to Hakone Gora Park

with the Hakone Free Pass, it's free admission

Gora Park is a French styled landscape pack with a large fountain and

rose garden. There is also a restaurant and a tea house

lovely flowers

hot spring water flowing in the drain in Gora

from Gora we changed to Hakone Tozan Train. I got to say I've never took so many different kind of transports in a day. It's kind of fun!

nice uniform, reminds me of Madeline , the little redheaded french girl cartoon

wanted to visit The Hakone Open-Air Museum but was closed...damn!

back to the Tozan train to Hakone Yumoto...on the way there were many sites to visit but it was getting dark we didn't managed to visit any but the view from the train was also really nice with Hydrangea in bloom alongside the line. The end of day 1 in Hakone :)

On the 2nd day we decided to walked to Motohakone-ko rather than taking the boat directly from Hakone Machi-ko

more eggs?

how very Japanese of us

Hakone Checkpoint or Hakone Sekisho Exhibition Hall, Hokone used to be an important checkpoint to control traffic in Tokaido, the highway which linked Tokyo with Kyoto during the Edo Period. Admission Fee 500yen/ adult. Discount if you have the Hakone Free Pass

for more info -----> http://www.hakonesekisyo.jp/english/data/access/access02.html

lake side path to Motohakone-ko

view from the boat and this lake side path does give a different feel

wild flowers

lake side

ancient cedar avenue, The Edo Shogunate ordered the planting of cedar trees along the old Tokaido highway in 1618

about almost 20-30 minutes hike up there is a kind of a bungalow, overlooking the beautiful Lake Ashi

panorama view from the bungalow

going down again

sight of the Hakone Jinja Shrine's Torii gate

the ancient cedar avenue are about 2 km long

they are huge

unusual tree

finally after more than 1 hour walked, Motohakone-ko

nearby is the Hakone-Jinja Shrine

Boon @ Hakone-Jinja Shrine

the shrine is quite hidden in the forest

i'm not sure what this tree is about but it seem some sort of a wishing tree

it's one giant wishing tree :)

going down the steps

to the red torii gate in the water. It was built in 1951 in commemoration of the Peace Treaty Japan concluded with 49 nations to formally end WWII 

lovely view from the torii gate

lallalala ^^

back to Motohakone-ko and took the boat to Togendai-ko

Hotel de Yama, famous for it's 3000 Azaleas flower garden. Season in end of April - late May. We were abit too late

from there we took the Hakone Tozan bus, to Gotemba Station, to the hot spring spa retreat :)

the bus ride took almost an hour. From Gotemba station there is also free shuttle bus to Gotemba Premium Outlets. Too bad we had no time for shopping

From Gotemba Station we took the free shuttle bus to our Spa retreat :)

there are many hot spring resort in the area to choose from

we spend about 5 hours here. 1 whole day entrance fee cost about 2000yen. We didn't even need to bring anything. towels, shampoo, lotions, anything you need they have it. Even hair tonic. If only i can go there every week...that would be awesome

life's good :)

this place highly recommended!! Oh damn i totally forgot the resort's name.....something Sumika

it was soooooo relaxing and at peace. We were also quite lucky to be able to see Mount Fuji though just for a few minutes because of the thick clouds but at least mission accomplish :)

day 3 we decided to just hang out in Mishima town

what better way to see the town then a bicycle, right?

there is an tourist information just next to the Mishima Station where u can register and borrow their bicycle for FREE

and it was really nice of Paul to show us around Mishima. Boon drinking spring water from Mount Fuji...

checking out the old water pump

some small antique shop

Mishima is an ancient town, which developed around the important Shinto Shrine of Mishima Taisha Shrine

Mishima Taisha Shrine

time for lunch, to Kaiten Zushi!! meaning sushi on a conveyor belt

almost all the sushi is 100 yen, only some special dishes with different prices.

This was one of the cheapest sushi we had in Japan :) and the quality was not bad

after lunch, time to hit the road. We bought our train ticket back to Tokyo from this 24 hours ticket vending machine. The price is slightly cheaper than the one in the train station, but it's in Japanese language :S

We had a great time in Mishima, definitely worth the trip and seeing Mount Fuji was an added bonus and the hot spring...oh i love the hot spring

~ sayonara ~