Summary of Japan Trip (Nov 2009)

Here’s a summary linking up all the posts related to our 18-day Japan trip in November 2009.

The posts with asterisks was updated with some videos after it was first published. Do go see!

Japan Trip: Day 15, part 2 (28 Nov 2009)

At Hakone-Yumoto, we boarded another train (still on the Hakonetozan Railroad).

This is a small train that was packed full of tourists and Japanese alike. The train passed through bits of nice scenery but we didn’t have the leisure of taking any photos since we were standing in the crowded train and holding on for support. It changes directions at a total of 3 switchbacks…interesting. 8)

G decided to alight at the Chokoku No Mori Station to take a look at the Hakone Open Air Museum. We decided not to visit the museum because the admission ticket is quite expensive and we were not that interested in the museum anyway. The usual admission costs 1,600 yen and there is a tiny discount with our pass.

So, we made our way back to the station and took the train to Gora where we visited the beautiful Gora Park. It is a french-styled park with a fountain and full of lovely flowers of autumn~

Japan Trip: Day 15, part 1 (28 Nov 2009)

We are finally going to Hakone after that bad weather day when we initially planned to go.

This is one destination that I was anticipating because it seemed such a pretty place to visit while planning the trip! Moreover, there’s a chance to see Mt. Fuji – read on to know whether luck was on our side…

The day started extremely early for us (at 6+) because we planned to follow the Hakone Round Course and return to Tokyo in the evening.

Firstly, we had to get to the Odakyu Railway Shinjuku station to buy the Hakone Free Pass. The pass costs quite a bit at 5,000 yen but it is still economical to use if you are following the round course.

It includes the round trip from Tokyo to Hakone and unlimited use of selected trains, cablecars, ropeways, boats and buses within Hakone. The pass can be bought at the ticket office but since it only opens at 8am, we bought ours from the ticket vending machines. Fortunately, we didn’t encounter any problems.

At the station, I was looking around for the information brochure on the Hakone Free Pass but couldn’t find it. Probably one can get it from the ticket office while buying tickets. No worries since we had printed our own information but it would be nice to have the official illustrated details instead of b/w text, right?

The starting point of the round course is Hakone-Yumoto. You can actually get there directly from Shinjuku via the Limited Express Romance Car but this will set you back at 2,020 yen per trip! Premium price for the comfort and speed, kekeke!

We used our pass and boarded the Odakyu Odawara Line Express that took us from Shinjuku to Odawara in 88mins. From Odawara, it was another 15min journey on the Hakonetozan Railroad before we reached Hakone-Yumoto.

Yay, here we go ~~on to the next post!

1. Hakone-Yumoto === (Hakonetozan Railroad) ===> Gora

2. Gora === (Hakone Tozan Cablecar) ===> Sounzan

3. Sounzan === (Hakone Ropeway) ===> Togendai

4. Togendai === (Hakone Sightseeing Boat) ===> Hakone-Machi

5. Hakone-Machi === (on foot) ===> Moto-Hakone

6. Moto-Hakone === (Hakone Tozan Bus) ===> Hakone-Yumoto