Hakone - Onsen!!!

Hakone (箱根) was meant to be our onsen retreat as it would just be a day dedicated to nua-ing in our ryokan in the evening and a small bit of sight-seeing in the afternoon as we had only catered one day for it. Unfortunately, there was heavy rain on that particular day which means...

1) We were not able to catch Mount Fuji....again!

2) Most of the transport especially the Hakone-Tozan cable car was paralysed. And the viable option was to travel by Odakyu Bus. The trip up the mountainous region of Hakone resembled a bus ride up to Genting, except much more rockier. I had motion sickness throughout the whole bus ride. :(

3) Once we reached the top attraction at Ōwakudani (大涌谷), it was a major bummer that due to the rain, it was extremely cloudy and the wind speeds were insane and howling so there was extremely poor visibility. We were mostly confined to the tourist shops and well, just devouring their samples.

4) But it did mean that nua-ing within a hot welcoming onsen in our ryokan away from the cold rainy weather was all the more worthwhile!

From Kyoto to Odawara and then to Hakone-Yumoto (Onsen town) by Hakone-Tozan Line


Lunch at Ishimiya

Yuba soba or buckwheat noodles


Once stirred, it presents a more sticky and viscous texture

Tofu dessert

Hakone sweets...crunchy!

The clearest shot I could get for Ōwakudani without risking getting blown away by the strong winds

Major bummer!! On clear days, supposed to be able to see Mt. Fuji from here

So we hung around in the shops with dozens of other people stranded like us


And whack the famous black eggs (黒玉子) of Ōwakudani!!


My 7-year 仙丹 awaits!


I ate 2, so that makes me erm..14 years overdue? Hurhur...:p

Tastes like hard-boiled egg

Retreated to our ryokan (traditional Japanese inn) and it's one of the better experiences of the whole trip. We had a very cosy place to ourselves, even our own bath area facing the stream outside. Ended up camwhoring in yukata and soaking in the onsen. The ryokan had a public onsen as well as a private one. I waded to the public one and I was actually surprised that there was almost nobody around. Seems like our public bath was very private enough too. Anw I was not used to sitting on the wooden stool in the buff washing up by using the scooper before dipping into the onsen.

We are allowed to wear the yukata anywhere in the ryokan, even to dine. I felt I was wearing a skirt though, feels bloody airy between my legs..

Some of the red bean desserts offered by the ryokan

I personally preferred the ones we bought in Yumoto though


Our dinner and then later breakfast sets where we feasted like siao