Monday 9th June

• I was meant to get up at 5am to walk to the Torii gate so I could get some photos without waiting in line but I was so tired after yesterday's hike I slept in. The road had no pavement so it might have been quite dangerious anyway (but I did see groups of people later walking).
• I had a traditional Japanese breakfast at 8am, followed by a soak in my private onsen bath, then check-out.
• There was a bit of confusion at the start as I was meant to take the 09:40 J bus to Togendai station but the driver said no Hakone Freepass and told me to get a bus with no number at 10:30. I asked the bus driver can I pay and he said I can use IC card, so I used that!
• I got on the ropeway at 10:05 after running to it from the bus stop, as I could see a pirate ship bearing down into port and I wanted to beat the rush of tourists. Luckily when I got there there was no-one and got on stright away, sharing the car with 2 other people.
• I spent about 2 hours in the volcanic steam area, viewing the sights and Geo museum. The area did have a eggy whiff to it! I got a snack of black ice-cream which I expected to taste just of vanilla but it did have another unknown flavour in it. I didn't try the famous black eggs as I heard they just where normal tasting eggs. There was also a walking tour of the volcanic area but the 10:30 was fully booked. The area wasn't as busy as I had feared and there were some benches to rest at.
• I got the ropeway to Sounzan Station (again no queue to get on) at 12:30 where I had a 5 miniute rest at the footbath, then the cablecar (busy but got a seat) and train (not too busy and got a seat) to Chokokunomori Station for the Open Air Museum.
• I stayed at the museum for about an hour from 13:00 to 14:00, viewing the exhibits. I was especially excited to the some of Picasso's works, as I've never seen them in person before. But unfortunately no photos allowed. I enjoyed exploring the secret garden where I could relax in peace. The tower was also a hightlight with spectaluar views from the top. I had a quick snack of ice cream in a hot bun at their cafe. Overall the museum was not crowded.
• I got the 14:10 train to Hakone (again not too busy with spectalular views on the way) and had a short time to explore before my booked Romancecar at 15:18. I randomly found some yummy dango at Houjou Sanfuku Dango.
• I had tried to book the front seats of the special Romancecar Observation train as soon as they were released but failed, so I got seat 4D in the rear observation section. It was a little bit far back from the main window and still provided good views.
• Upon arriving at Shinjuku, I made my way stright to the Okura for my final 2 nights in Tokyo.
• I found Hakone to be an odd place. There's loads of foreign toursts around the main sites and in my hotel, but none in-between them, which is odd as how do they all get around? There was an American family fo 5 staying at my hotel ... I saw them at dinner, breakfast and then only again at the top of the ropeway. The buses I took mostly only had Japanese passengers. I found some of the Japanese to be rude when I was asking for help, as fellow tourists I'd thought they'd be more sympathetic, but maybe they hate foreign toursts too?
• Upon checking in, I seem to have been given an upgrade to a corner balcony room. I like this layout better as the steam shower is actually in the wet area and not seperate, but the room is missing a bench at the foot of the bed.
• As I was tired, I had room service of shark fin soup, sweet and sour pork and rice which was delicous ... the sweet and sour sauce expecially moorish.

• Hakone Open-Air Museum ¥1,900
• Hakone Open-Air Museum cafe ¥650
• Dango ¥500
• Train Shinjuku - Kokkaigijido-mae ¥178
• Room service ¥11,100