Exploring Hakone

Today we had our second day at the Hakone Ryokan. We spent most of today exploring the city. The weather was a lot cooler here than what we've experienced so far, partially because we are at a higher elevation, and partially because it rained last night, so the humidity is a lot less today.

First up was the ryokan's breakfast:

Our western style, vegetarian breakfast,

The Japanese style, traditional option.

Another angle on the waterfall outside our room.

We took a scenic train up the mountain. It was supposed to have a lot of hydrangeas, but we are a few weeks past the season for them, and with the heat recently, they were looking a little sad.

 

Note the mountain in the distance, obscured by clouds.

After the train, we took a bus, and got off at the wrong stop. We had some Evangelion branded coffee, then got back on the next bus (only about a 10 minute delay).

We visited a small temple, and continued on our way. The warnings were different on two different signs (falling twigs, and falling dead branches).

We took another bus down to Lake Ashi, where we visited another shrine, and did a cruise on the lake.

I attempted to do a panorama of the lakeside, but I wasn't very happy with how it turned out. I couldn't seem to do more than about 270º. This was the best of several tries.

A very nice hand-washing station.

The main entrance. Note the large staircase behind the Torii gate.

The main gate into the inner shrine area.

A Japanese wedding taking place there.

Another hand-washing station.

After visiting the shrine, we went back down to the lake.

Bram posing with a Torii gate.

A small trail by the water. It was nice and shady.

The same Torii gate, from a different angle. This was taken from the shore.

A view from the ship.

We were supposed to have a view of Mt. Fuji from here, but it was too cloudy to see it.

Another cruise ship; our was not pirate themed.

After that, we went through Cedar Avenue, which was a trail flanked by ~200 year old trees. We then took a different bus back, which went through bendy, steep mountain roads, to get us back to the ryokan.