Hakone (pronounced hah-cone-eh) is an area just outside of Tokyo, Japan (about 70 miles). The city itself is situated up in the mountains, right near the famous Mt. Fuji:
Mt. Fuji from inside a train
The best way I can describe Hakone is to compare it to Lake Tahoe, California. If you haven't been there, I apologize for the reference. Here's a shot from the mountains surrounding Lake Ashi, which Hakone snuggles up against:
The Hakone area is well-known to the Japanese. It's a resort area, full of spas, hot springs and relaxing hotels. In addition, there are numerous parks and fun things to do - taking advantage of both Japanese and international tourists. The fact that it's all situated in a volcano shouldn't alarm anyone ; ) Here's a shot of one of the more-interesting activities, riding tall ships across the lake:
Note: You're going to need a great deal of patience to ride these boats. However, on a good day, the views are spectacular. I had a chance to visit some of the local parks with some of my friends:
Neal mugs for the camera in 1994
I told my friends that I wanted to climb up Mt. Fuji. I mean, how many times are you going to come that close to one of the most recognizable symbols of Japan?!? I convinced everyone to climb part of the way up the mountain:
I have to admit that when I climbed above the cloud layer, I started listening to others claim that we had hiked far enough. I envisioned my Dad climbing to the glacier on Mt. Timpanogos and wanted to keep going. When you're up that high...the air is a little thin. You start to do and say things that seem awfully funny at the time, but in fact weren't ; ) I took this picture:
Neal's best impression of Superman
On another trip to Hakone, I was able to visit a sacred shrine and garden, located on the shores of Lake Ashi. There, you'll find one of the famous Torii gates built right into the lake. It was drop-dead beautiful:
5 comments:
That last picture is beautiful. It almost looks fake, it's so scenic
The picture of you at the park with your friends looks like you were photoshopped in???
I'm with macy on that last picture--it is gorgeous!
Nope - I was there, but I see what you mean. There was definitely some Photoshopping going on with the "Superman" picture ; )
This is Rob and I want to be Diggity and I want it now!. I'm going to start an "I wanna be diggity now club". We will have video game competitions to see who gets to be president. Our icon will be Diggityman with the pic above the clouds. I'll photoshop in my face...maybe we can start a second club and call it, "Where's foshizzle"!
Macy - on a clear day, that's exactly what that looks like. 80% of the time, it's not clear. It's really, really hard to see the top of Mt. Fuji from Tokyo - but you have a much better chance from Hakone.
Rob - You'd better get started on that club. You'd better start working on the Halloween Diggityman costume, as well ; )
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