Hakone - A hop, skip and a jump!

 I call it a hop, skip and a jump but what it really is, is a two day pass in Hakone that gives you access to several different kinds of transportation.  It's actually called a Freepass and here's  the website for it:

https://www.odakyu.jp/english/passes/hakone/

It's a super good deal and it's also a lot of fun.

Once we arrived in Hakone we used our passes to ride a bus to Lake Ashi. My brother and sister in-law were with us and the first place we visited at Lake Ashi was the Ekiden Museum.

Walking around outside the museum.

After the museum we did some sightseeing by the lake.

It's a beautiful day for this.

Walking along the cedar tree avenue.

Another view of Lake Ashi from the Narukawa Art Museum.

These are the tour boats that are included as part of the Freepass.

Stepping back from the window one can see that I'm inside the viewing lounge of the museum.

By-the-way, the Narukawa art museum is outstanding: http://www.narukawamuseum.co.jp/en/

We had to kill a little time while we waited for our tour boat to arrive so we did somemore walking around the lake.

Our boat has arrived and it's time to get onboard.

Fast-forward: After the boat arrives at the other end of the lake it's time to get on the Hakone Ropeway.

https://www.hakoneropeway.co.jp/foreign/en/

The Ropeway fare is included in the Freepass.

You can see Mt. Fuji from the gondola. 

The Ropeway takes us to Owakudani. Hot steam billows from the ground, the air reeks of Sulphur and any minute I expect to see a dinosaur walk by me. This is like the land that time forgot.

This trail is currently closed because of toxic volcanic gasses.

From Owakudani we took a shuttle bus to Souzan station to ride the cable car to Gora. Yes, this too is included in the Freepass.

The cable car specially designed on about a 45 degree angle to match the slope of the hill it travels on.

After arriving at Gora station I paused to watch the cable car (in the distance) go back up the hill.

Now it's time to get on the famous Hakone Tozan Railway. 

https://www.hakone-tozan.co.jp/en/

All part of the Freepass!

The station attendant checks to make sure it's clear for the train to enter the station. 

My brother-in-law.

My Emi!

My sister-in-law.

The train is passing by a shrine.

The train takes us back to where we started and then it was time to check into our Hotel for the night. The Hotel is not part of the Freepass. 

The next morning after checking out of our Hotel we walked around the Hakone-Yumoto area.

Then it was time to head to the Hakone-Yumoto train station to go to Odawara. 

Our train is waiting for us. And, yes it's included in the Freepass.

We made a stop at Kazamatsuri station to visit a fishcake factory  and then we were back onboard and headed to Odawara. 

Buses, boats, ropeways, cable cars, trains... everything was part of the Freepass. Funny thing is that the Freepass isn't free. However, it is a bargain and it makes traveling all over Hakone a piece of cake (make that a piece of fishcake!).

Thanks for stopping by!

Mike

Bonus shots!