Hey guys! I hope you had a great week! On September my parents visit me (yes, to Japan!) for my graduation and unfortunately (or fortunately) my brother could not go with them because of his work.
I brought them to Hakone since it’s pretty close from Tokyo and I’ve never been there before (seriously, Angel… After all these years?)
I’ll share some photos in this post.
Transport: Going to Hakone is pretty easy. There’re frequent trains from Shinjuku to Hakone-Yumoto station. I’ll recommend you to use the Hakone Free Pass which include round trip from Tokyo to Hakone and unlimited use of trains, cablecars, ropeways, boats, and buses in Hakone Area. The 2-day pass only cost you 5,140¥. BUT! If you want to take romance train from Shinjuku to Hakone Yumoto, you have to pay 890¥ more. Normally it takes 2 hours by normal train, but with romance car it’s only take you 85 mins and the view is beautiful.
FYI: When I went there, the volcanic activity is dangerous, that’s why they close the owakudani area. Please check the condition before you go there.
After I arrived at Hakone-Yumoto, I took the Hakone Tozan Railroad to Gora station. It takes around 1 hour I guess. Because the train goes up to the mountain, you can see a lot of beautiful views.
Then from Gora we went with the cable car to our hotel in KamiGora. Actually we could just walk to the hotel, but since the road is quite steep and we did not want to wait for bus, we just take that cable car. It’s free anyway (because we used the free pass)
Our hotel is called –> Tabibito no Yado e-Rooms. It’s not really a hotel, much like an apartment. It’s new, clean, and big! And the owner even gave us a ride to restaurant area in Gora.
(When I check my camera, it’s full of my mom and dad photo, which I don’t really mind)
After lunch, we went by bus to Lake Ashinoko. We took the cruise to the other side of the lake.
We got off to Moto-Hakone pier and there’s a temple nearby. And we decided to go visit that temple. I think the temple itself is quite ordinary, I just went there to take a lot of photos.
Pretty, aren’t they. LOL My parents were like in their second honeymoon and me, being a good daughter, took a lot of photos for them.
Because it was pretty late already, we decided to call it a day and plan for the second day.
The second day.
In Hakone there’re a lot of museums. There’re POLA museum, Art Museum, open-air museum and many more. My parents are not a big fans of museum, so we decided not to go to all of them, and they let me pick the museum I wanted to go! Yay!!!
And I chose the Little Prince Museum and Venetian Glass Museum.
I read the novel Little Prince and I’ve always wanted to go there!! YAY!!! One of my bucket list is done!
To go there, you just need to take a bus from Gora. I don’t remember which route, but the Venetian Glass Museum and Little Prince Museum are passed by the same route.
The ticket price is 1500¥, we got 200¥ discount for purchasing it on Gora station. Since I was still a student that time, I even got cheaper price (1100¥).
Going inside this museum is like going inside the novel! The museum recreates the streets in Paris, there’s also a museum about the author, souvenir shop, and restaurant.
The Little Prince, born over the 44 years of his life, has been translated into more than 140 languages.
(I’m watching you!)
Me, acting as damsel in distress LOL
There is a small chapel inside. This chapel reproduces a chapel neighboring the castle of Saint-Maurice-de-Remens, where the author, Saint-Exupery spent most of his time as a child.
(See, my mom is even more photogenic than I am)
My parents said to me that the place is similar to a garden in Europe, which I don’t remember the name. I’ve never been to Europe as well. My family went there without me 🙁
Then, we go to the next destination –> Venetian Museum
This place is called garasu no mori ガラスの森．This museum is also pretty. The picture above is taken from the entrance. The ticket cost 1500¥. No special price for student (booooo!!!)
In the outside part, you’ll see a huge curtain made from Krystal. There’re also some fake plants made from Krystal.
Inside the museum, there’re a lot of display and ornaments, made from Krystal and glasses. My parents said, it reminds them of Venetia (again, I’ve never been there)
(They were lovey dovey and I just stood there, forever alone LOL)
I actually prefer the outdoor part of the museum because it’s so pretty, I can take a lot of photos! They also have a gelato stall and restaurant. There’s also a place within the museum where you can try making ornaments from glass.
(I think that was the workshop, and next to it is the gelato stall)
And that’s all the places we went to in Hakone. I would like to go there again to Owakudani and the Yunessun onsen (this onsen is really famous for it’s various water -wine, coffee, etc – )
Before we went there, I asked my Japanese friend if it was safe to travel there because of the volcanic activity. He told me not to go because it might be dangerous. And actually in the second day, there was a big earthquake and I thought the volcano erupted… Turned out it was just a normal earthquake in Tokyo. What an experience.
Anyway, last time I checked, Owakudani is still closed for safety reason. If you travel to Hakone, don’t forget to check the condition! Have a safe trip!