Ok, so we did traditional camping in a tent and cooked our food over the fire, but during the days we went and checked out all the fun things to do in Hakone. It made it feel somewhere in between camping and glamping. But it was a great week, despite lots of rain we saw some many fun things. Our tent was continuously damp, but luckily our sleeping pads kept our bedding dry, so that's what matters most. Also, not sure why but the bugs here in Japan are massive; big beetles, spiders, and more. Our kids were slightly nervous of the bathrooms which always had an insect friend or two hiding out.
When we arrived at the campground on Monday afternoon it was pouring down rain. Thankfully, it cleared out a bit after and we hastily put our tent up and set up our bedding. We also set up an extra sun/rain shelter. The rain also held up enough for us to make dinner over the fire. Hot dogs roasted over the fire. Then we made s'mores for a treat.
The next day also called for rain the next day so we headed for Yunesson, which is a water park heated by hot springs. It had a traditional onsen section and then a swimsuit/waterpark area. Since we were all together and I feel bad sending Jake with all the kids (traditional onsen are separated by gender), we just got tickets for the swimsuit water park. It was a lot of fun. They had a big warm swiming pool that had jets and bubbles throughout to play in. Around the pool they had small baths with wine, coffee, sake, and green tea in them. We didn't try them all, but we relaxed in the wine and coffee baths. Then we headed outside to play in the water park. They had a splash pad/playground for the kids, bigger water slides and cave baths. Then they had relaxing onsen with views of the valley below. We spent the whole morning there and left in the afternoon. We ate sandwiches by the car and then headed back to the campground to walk along Ashinoko Lake. Before we could walk around the lake we sat out a bit of a downpour in the car. But as luck would have it, the weather cleared and we were able to walk around the lake. And Jake made us sloppy joes for dinner.
On Wednesday we woke to a rainy morning so we headed to the Hakone Aquarium. Pace and Grant got the opportunity to feed an otter. And we saw a fun seal show along with seeing all the other fish. After the weather was a bit better so we went for a boat trip across Lake Ashi on a pirate ship (which they use as a sightseeing boat on the lake). We took the boat across the Lake and got out on the other side of the Lake near the old Tokaido Road. This was an old highway which connected Kyoto and Edo (Tokyo) during the Edo period. Now you can hike large portions of it. Where they have paved modernized it it's easy to walk on. But the old stone road is uneven and steep, which makes for a hard walk. They have preserved an old checkpoint and made it into a small museum. This place was fun to see since we have a board game called Tokaido and refers to this old road. Then we checked out the Hakone Shrine, which was beautiful and had a floating Tori gate in Lake Ashi. We missed the last boat back to our campground so we took the bus back to our camp (to the boys delight). It was raining a bit and late when we got back so we picked up a yummy dinner in a nearby restaurant.
Thursday, after a yummy pancake breakfast Jake made for us, we took the ropeway up to the top of Owakundai. This is the area around the crater created by an eruption of Mount Hakone. It's still an active area full of sulfur steam vents. They collect the water to source the onsen all around Hakone. They also cook eggs over the steam vents which turns the shell black and hard "boils" them. We tried the eggs, which were delicious and supposed to provide extra health benefits. Unfortunately all the trails up top were closed (maybe because of air quality?).
Friday was our last day and we decided to do some of our favorite things again. We took the pirate ship over to the Old Tokaido Highway and walked a bit farther on the old stone section. We also stopped in some of the woodwork shops to pick up some souvenirs. Then we took the boat back to Togendai and rode the ropeway back up to the crater. The weather was much clearer and warm so the views were much better. We even saw Mt Fuji's summit peaking through the clouds. For dinner we went out for pizza and ice cream.
Saturday was our day to pack out so we packed everything down slowly (letting our tent dry out in the sun). Then we took a spin on swan paddle boats on lake Ashi and headed home. It was a great trip. So glad we could get some camping in, even if it was a bit less traditional.
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