The first look on Mount Fuji was amazing. Everywhere around green and brown mountains and in the middle the white covered Mount Fuji spikes out.
Arrival from Tokyo is pretty easy and fast by train. With the special Hakone-Pass you can also use every local train, cable car, ships and get some reduction on entrance fees. So this was our choice and we arrived during midday at the base of the Hakone area. The area of lake Hakone is surrounded by a ring of mountains, to get there you have to take some different kinds of transportation possibilities and it took us quite a time. But during the rides you have an amazing view on a beautiful countryside with small spots of old villages and you can decide to take a walk thru the village and continue your ride afterwards or just keep on. We decided to make a stop at that village, where the oldest hotel of Japan is located. Actually we also wanted to visit a famous coffee shop – but as Tokyo already showed us – this was closed at that day. Nevertheless we enjoyed a short walk, took some pictures of the hotel and continued. On the highest point of the mountains you can finally get the first view on Mount Fuji and even though this view calms you down and make you feel satisfied, you can in addition try the black eggs which are supposed to longer your life for years. A little bit afraid of the kind of cooking in the hot sulfide-water and the fact that they should make you live longer – they have to taste at least strange. Anyway, we wanted to approve the stories and tried them. If you now think I am going to tell whether they taste good or bad – sorry – but you have to try them on your own. But you see I am still alive so they can’t be that bad. After this experience we went back to the next cable car station and down in the surrounded valley of Hakone lake.
On the way down we already were wondering about the kind of ship located in the harbor. Did we book a trip to Disneyland? Or are they just reusing one of the ships from Disney-Sea in Tokyo? Asking our travel guide book was not very helpful – it just says that the Japanese like those kinds of entertainment. At least it was a comfortable ship ride across the lake. After deciding to have a little walk instead of going to the hotel directly we went from board one stop after the regular one. This gave us also the chance to pass some historical buildings, another great view on Mount Fuji and one of the longest and oldest Pine-tree alleys in Japan. Which was not as long as we thought, but still nice and at least it took us not that much time. And after this, we arrived at our Hotel. Not only the fact, that our room offered a view on Mount Fuji and the lake, we also got a upgrade from the booked 3-Bed-Standard room to a junior suite. The day could hardly end better. Only the really delicious food cooked in a small restaurant by a Japanese grandma and the sunset over the lake made at least me, a really happy and satisfied person.
For the night I spent my time taking some pictures and the girls enjoying in the spa area. Because I planned to take pictures during the sunrise, we went to bed early. The best decision I ever made in that trip! The next morning with the rising sun illuminated the top of Mount Fuji from grey, to orange, to yellow, to white. All followed with the mirror image in the still dark blue lake. Only some fisherman at the peer, throwing out their first lure from time to time, disturbed the calmness in that time. This moment could last forever and still the thoughts about make me quiescently.
