Lake Ashinoko is a beautiful crater lake formed from volcanic activity thousands of years ago.
We stayed in a cabin that was just a short distance away from the lake. The kids LOVED standing by the side and trying to skip rocks.
Ryan claims he skipped a rock, "that first went 5 ft and then skipped to 3 ft".
The "thing to do" around the lake is to take a Pirate Ship around to each of it's three ports. Each port has fun souvenir shops and restaurants.
This is the Torii Gate for the Hakone Shrine as seen from the ship.
After the boat ride, we took the Gondola up to Owakudani ("great boiling valley"). It is a very active volcanic spot in Hakone with many sulfur vents and boiling hot springs.
Here is Mt Fuji. Can you see it? Neither can we......we have the worst luck when it comes to seeing the "supposed" mountain.
Once at the top of Owakudani, Callista was in for a big treat. You may wonder, why is Hello Kitty dressed in a black egg? Owakudani is famous for it's eggs boiled in sulfuric hot springs...therefore the eggshell is black. It is said that for each egg you eat, you add 7 years to your life. Eating one or two is good for you, but it is ill-advised to eat three. We wish we would have known this before. We bought 5 black eggs, and Callista ate 3 of them. Perhaps this is why she got sick on the ride home....Oops!
It was an awesome weekend get away. It is always fun to immerse ourselves in the Japanese culture. There were very few foreigners here, and they definitely cater to their own. The kids got lots of attention and we got many stares as we sometimes broke out in song and laughter. A Japanese family would never be so jovial.....so we laughed all the harder at what they must have thought was the circus in town!
