Day 2 - Mt Fuji Safari Park

This post continues from where we left off earlier. 

This morning we tried the ensuite onsen bath in Hakone. From the bathtub on our balcony, we can see the Gora station below and watch the trains roll in as it brings in the day trip visitors from Tokyo. We can still see some autumn leaves even though it is early December. The weather was cool and relaxing. This type of ensuite onsen is suitable for couples or for foreigners who are shy to use the main pool.... we will use the main pool anytime. hahaha

View from room with ensuite bath facing Gora Station

After our slow and sumptuous breakfast, we proceed to our highlight for today.  Fuji Safari Park. 

富士山こどもの国   (open from 10 am to 3pm)

〒417-0803　静岡県富士市桑崎1015　（しずおかけん　ふじし　かざき1015）
TEL：0545-22-5555 / FAX：0545-22-5551 (alternative number: 055-998-1311)

There are online discount coupons for DIY travellers for many attractions, thus it does pay off to do some research into the places that you want to visit. The car ride from the  Hakone to Mt. Fuji Safari park took about 1hr and 20 mins and you will pass by Gotemba Premium outlet if you are keen on visiting the branded 'factory outlet' in Japan.

The zoo is pretty interesting if this is your first time to a "drive-thru" zoo. The open-zoo concept is simple, you sit in the comfort of your own car and stay as long as you like but make sure you don't wind down your car windows! We did not take any of the buses above but drove our rental car into the Safari Park. The scenery would have been awesome if we can see Mt. Fuji but today was a very cloudy day. I am not sure if the animals appreciate the fumes from our car though...as we stayed there for about an hour.

We drove our own car into the park. Alternative way will be to take the safari bus.

Children's zoo

At the end of the car ride, you can disembark and visit the Children's zoo where you can watch mini horses racing against one another or you can feed the 'always hungry' kangaroos. This is a place where you can spend at least 2 hours if you have kids.

This place is enroute from Hakone to Lake Kawaguchi near Mt Fuji. 

Happy Holidaying.

Day 1 - Hakone

Tokyo Narita to Hakone (Dec 2010)

Nissan Wingroad

It is very easy to drive in Japan and actually it is not really too expensive if it is for a family. The hassle of carrying luggage up and down the trains doesn't sound too appealing.

For this trip, we chose a Nissan Wingroad for our family, keyed in the phone number of destination and off we go. Our stop today was  Hakone.

In case you are interested, we booked the car from the Tocoo website and this is one of the best website for booking a car in Japan.

Narita Airport - Hakone

The drive from Narita took us approximately 3 hours with toll fees. The Hakone Checkpoint (Tel: 0640-83-6635) is basically a replica of the guardhouse built in 1619 to serve as a checkpoint along the famous Tokaido Highway which connected the Edo (present Tokyo) with Kyoto and Nara (ancient capitals).

View of Lake Ashi and Mount Fuji from Hakone Checkpoint

The museum houses several relics and also offers a nice view of Lake Ashi with a little glimpse of Mount Fuji. It is said that you are very lucky if you can see the Mount Fuji as the peak is always covered with clouds. The place is not big and we covered it in less than an hour. From here, there are 2 other attractions which we can visit on foot. The Cedar Avenue and the Hakone Detached Palace.

Way to Cedar Avenue

Cedar Avenue

The Cedar Avenue is basically an ancient walkway lined with many Cedar trees. We just walked along the path for a short distance of about 1km before turning back towards Hakone Detached Palace. The trail is not as famous as the ancient walkway between Magome and Tsumago and is unfortunately not well preserved as it is beside a major road. I dont think you will miss much if you skip the Cedar Avenue but it does feel good to walk in between tall trees.

Hakone Detached Palace

The walk up to Hakone Detached Palace is definitely more challenging than our earlier walk in Cedar Avenue with steep slopes at times. However, it rewards you with a magnificent view of the lake and Mt Fuji! I will definitely recommend this place to anyone who is looking for a great view and there are no admission charges.

View from the top of Hakone Detached Palace. There is a replica pirate ship which one can cruise Lake Ashi.

After our morning walk, we were all hungry! We managed to find one homely looking restaurant opposite the Ferry Terminal (where you can board the ferries or pirate ship to cruise to the other side of Lake Ashi).

A randomly picked Jap restaurant opposite the Ferry Terminal

Whenever we pick a restaurant, we always choose one in which there are many locals (or had suitable dishes for the kids). I had a bowl of sushi rice topped with fresh sashimi. Oishi! The appetizer of deep fried seasonal fish tasted great as well. The lunch from the randomly picked restaurant was most satisfying and the prices reasonable.

View of Mt. Fuji from the trail to Owakudani

After lunch, we proceeded to Owakudani, a sulfuric-smelling cauldron with piping hot springs in the hills. It was a short 15 mins hike from the car park. The hike offers a good view of Mt. Fuji and at the end of the hike, you see a few pools of hot spring and many people gathering around tables eating eggs cooked by the hot spring. It is said that eggs you eat will lengthen your life by 7 years!!

Eggs from Owakudani. A pack of 4 eggs cost Yen 500

And besides hordes of locals and tourists who are "crazy"over the eggs, even Hello Kitty eats the sulfuric darkened black eggs... to extend her TV shelf 'life'?

Even Hello Kitty loves the black eggs?

Anyway it is time to proceed to the onsen hotel for dinner and bath. If you have never stayed in a hot spring hotel before, you should try it. Perhaps it take a little getting used to initially but when in doubt, just follow the locals on how to take a hot spring bath.


Accommodation review: Hakone Gora Onsen Tokinoyu Setsugetsuka. 箱根強羅温泉　季の湯　雪月花 神奈川県 足柄下郡箱根町強羅1300-34, 250-0408, Japan+81 460-86-1333

Kaiseiki dinner for adults and kids

The hotel is located near the Gora Station. It is near the train in which you would take if you are coming in from Tokyo and doing the Hakone Round Course. We had done a day trip using the Odayu Hakone Free pass from Tokyo some years back and after that trip, i told myself to spend at least one night in Hakone. The dinner we had were Kaiseki dinner and comes in multiple courses. Dinner and breakfast is usually included in the hotel price which you pays. Some ryokans serve the dinner in your room while the bigger hotels usually require you to have the dinner at their restaurants. 

We are off to Japan again!

We are off to Japan again! Japan is one of the few countries which makes me go back over and over again. Our driving itinerary this time looks like this:

Day 1 - Overnight flight to Tokyo Narita. Tokyo - Hakone 
Day 2 - Hakone - Lake Kawaguchi (Mt Fuji)
Day 3 - Lake Kawaguchi - Nikko
Day 4 - Nikko - Tokyo
Day 5 - Tokyo Disney Sea
Day 6 - Tokyo Disney Land

With the explosion of internet, planning for a self-guided tour has never been easier. This is especially true for my family of 4. Here are the few websites that i use for planning a trip to Japan.

Planning a trip

I always use japan-guide.com to plan my Japan trip. Once i have an outline of my itinerary, I will Google for more specific information on the places i would like to visit. Sometimes i also use tripadvisor for some ideas of where to stay, see and eat. Everyone has different interests and ideas on what an ideal holiday should be. As such mine is catered for the following interests:

Adults - Good onsens (hot springs), good food, nice hotels, some light shopping, interesting experiences and scenic places.
Kids - Places to keep them entertained and occupied and thanks to Steve Jobs, ipads or iphones is a must for in-betweens and waiting.

I have included my itinerary here so that it can help serve like-minded travellers like me who detest joining a package tour. This is my first entry into the blog and i intend to upload all my travel plans and pictures over time. My travel plans are usually at a leisurely pace as i am travelling with kids.

Rental

Driving a rental car is amazingly easy and simple in Japan even if you don't understand a single word of Japanese. I drive because I do not have the luxury of a long holiday and would rather spend the time sightseeing than waiting for buses and trains. It may not be the cheapest travelling option but with an entourage of 4, it actually help a lot as you can just dump the luggage in the car boot. In fact, i think that it is cheaper than travelling by Shinkansen but for certain destinations, Shinkansen is a much faster option.

All you need to do is to know how to operate a few key buttons on the GPS in the car. To reach a new destination, key in the phone number of the place that you want to go and off you go.  You will need to learn how to 'toggle' among various options such as driving on 'toll-free' roads only to help you save some money. This is true only when you do not need to drive long distances and do not mind arriving 10 minutes later. If you don't mind paying around Yen1,000 more, you can have the luxury of a "English" speaking GPS and i will strong recommend it. However, English speaking GPS are usually available at the major airports serving international airlines.

I have only used one website so far for renting a car and i strongly recommend it. To plan my driving trip, i used Google Maps to plan the average time i need to drive from one location to another.

Ryokans and Onsens

One of the difficulty travelling in Japan is making reservations at small ryokans. I remember having to ask my friend to help me make reservations over the phone as they do not have an English website and do not speak English at all. With the advance of internet, you can actually email them or key in your reservation details using Google Translate. You will be amazed by the things which you can do nowadays. Thankfully you also have more enterprising companies catering to self-guided travelers now and you can book your hotels, ryokans using Japanican or Japan Online Traveller which i have used extensively. I have also used Japan Guest Houses before but have since preferred the 2 websites above. Based on my experience, Japan Online Traveller gives more options and is cheaper than Japanican. I also discovered one more good website for booking ryokans and accomodations called Jalan.net. Try it! 

Happy planning! My 2 cents worth

"Planning for a self-guided trip is actually one of the most enjoyable part of the holiday as you ponder on where to go, what to eat and when to do it. And remember one thing, getting lost is part of the fun."