Monday was technically a day off. Apparently, most of the people at the university did  not actually treat the national holiday as a national holiday, but to be fair, the holiday was “sea day”. Bit random as a national holiday.

So, we got up at 7 in order to go to Hakone, a lake/volcano area famous for its view of Mt. Fuji. We took about 3 trains to get there, and also a bus (and later a boat and a cable car). Suffice to say, it was really expensive. If you ever plan on doing this, get a day pass. It’s much cheaper.

So anyways, we got off the bus (from the trains), and visited Hakone shrine (after minor drama in our squad which I opted not to participate in).

The shrine’s at the top of that

With a either sealed tree or a sacred one. i dunno.

After that, we took some loops around a nearby park/garden area. It was supposed to have a really good view of mt. Fuji, but it was kind of cloudy that day. Really cloudy. Really, really cloudy.

Anyways, we followed the lake around until we got to where the boat docked. But not before passing through a seeminly recreated old fashioned town.

And then we took a pirate ship across the lake. No lie.
The pirate ship was actually pretty awesome.
Oh, I also got some grilled cuttlefish before I left on the pirate ship. :3

Anyways, once we got to the other side, we took a cable car over one of the volcanos in the area. Which would have been cool if it wasn’t so foggy. The cable car was pretty much just running into a fog half the time. When we stopped on the top of the volcano, we couldn’t see anything. We did stop to try Kurotamago, black eggs cooked in the volcanic sulfur water, which turn black because chemistry.

After we got down the mountain (which included the rest of the cable car trip, a mountain train, a real train, timing frustration, and having to find a different place to go to), we ended up going to hot springs! It probably would have been more unnerving if it had been a) Just me, and b) If my eyesight was better than it is without my glasses. But I got to soak in the water for about an hour. It was so relaxing! I was practically exuding heat when I came out of it.

Anyways, after that, we went back home (which was also expensive) just via train.

Anyways, I’m almost caught up with my adventures. I can say that, because I cant upload this weekend’s photos until I go into work tmrw.

Also, leaving for the South Island for research on Tuesday! Whewt!

—-

I’m always searching for your fragments,
within a dream, at Sakuragi-town,
even though you couldn’t possibly be there