Hakone- Day 2

We started our day out with this deliciousness.

One of the things that they're famous for in this region is himono, which are dried fish that are usually broiled prior to being eaten. I really wanted some, but wasn't sure that I would get any since most of the activities that we'd planned were a bit far away from town. Fortunately, while doing some early morning gift shopping (the sweets we were out to buy are known to get sold out around noon) we stumbled across a place that had some out in front of their store as samples.

We then got on the train (only 2 or 3 cars long) that goes up to the top of a nearby mountain and hopped off just one stop later. I would later learn that this train is very unique because there are 3 points at which the conductor must walk to the other end of the train to drive it back a little and then go back to the front of the train to "switch back" to go further up the steep mountain. This train also goes painfully slow, but is the only mode of public transportation for many tourist spots on this mountain. 

Right along the platform of this station is a small shrine. Most shrines have a little basin where you are supposed to wash your hands and mouth before entering shrine grounds. This one had a little sign just in case you were unsure.

This shrine has a little station where you can wash your coins- i presume it's for good luck. I threw in the 1cent euro that Helene had snuck into my coin purse in hopes that I would have luck with the Euro as well. Too bad I didn't have a penny. Perhaps that's why the dollar is so weak even now? Sorry guys. I should probably go back here with all the US coins I have.

We then changed trains and got onto the tram to go further up the mountain.

After the tram, we then got onto the ropeway to get to Owakudani, a place that is known for natural hot springs. They also boil eggs in this water and something about the minerals in the water turns the eggs black (hence the Hello Kitties with/in black eggs). In addition, you might remember Helene bringing me some back from this post. 

Unfortunately, it was so foggy that day that it was really hard to differentiate between the fog and the steam coming off of the hot springs. Most of the water was a milky color from all of the bubbles in it, I assume. I also got an egg flavored soft serve. It sounds kind of gross at first, but if you consider that the egg tarts found at many dim sum places as well as Chinese bakeries are not only edible, but tasty, I decided to give this a shot. Turns out, it's not too bad! Not sure that I would get it given a list of choices, or if I was not somewhere that was famous for eggs, though.

This is how foggy it was on our way back down from the mountain. We then ventured around a small town to find a restaurant that we found in our guide book. When we got there, however, there was a very long wait so we decided to go look for another source of nourishment. We ended up at a bakery that is attached to a hotel that belongs to the same chain as the one that we were staying at. 

We both got the curry bread where there's curry inside fried bread. It was the best curry bread I've ever had in my life. It was amazing and I am sad that I can't find it in Tokyo.

Next Stop: The Little Prince Museum!

Anyone who knows me know that I love "The Little Prince" by Antoine Saint-Exupery. I saw that there was a Little Prince museum in Hakone months ago, but never thought that I would make it since it's 1) in Hakone and 2) quite a ways away from the main train station. I was ecstatic when I leaned that we would be making a stop here. First stop was the restaurant because I needed a nice spike in my blood sugar levels.

I had this parfait with a snake macaroon in it!

We then went back to our hotel where we took one last soak in the hot springs and then got on the train, named the Romance Car to head back to Tokyo.