I recently went on a trip to a popular onsen (hot spring) resort area named Hakone.(Acutally, the place I went, Yugawara, is right next to Hakone but just a few minutes away). The area is close to the Pacific ocean and Mount Fuji and is in the Kanagawa Prefecture. It's a very mountainous area and a lot of places are only accessible by cable car. On the way, I stopped at Odawara to see Odawara Castle (shown above) and it's prized Hydrangea and Iris Gardens. It's quite an attraction featuring some very beautiful gardens and historic architecture. More photos of the gardens below (as always click on the photo to enlarge and hit 'backspace' button on keyboard or 'back' in your browser)
From there, went by bus (about a 101 switchbacks on those mountain roads, can you say 'carsick'?) to the ryokan (Japanese Inn). Ryokans are great since they have onsen on-premises (natural hotspring) and in-room dining. Its all very traditional, from the food and service to the tatami-mat rooms. You can even walk around the hotel grounds wearing yukata (light summer-style kimono for men and women). It's really a great way to go, once you've done it!
Speaking of food (probably my favorite subject-ha!), one of the best parts of course is kaiseki ryouri. Kaiseki is the Japanese equivalent of a French 5-course meal, only it's like 10 courses. All very small portions and tremendous thought goes into not only the taste, but the textures, colors, and presentaion. Each course is brought to your room separately, one by one, so it takes a few hours to complete the meal. Its a great show and for sure my favorite part. Some savory samples below...
On the way back, we stopped at another tourist attaction, Odawakuni. Its not an easy spot to reach as first you have to cross Lake Ashi by pirate boat (yes, pirate boat. I'm not kidding) and then take the Hakone Ropeway (cable car) to get to Odawakuni. Here you can see close up (and smell, trust me) active hot sulfur springs emiting from the mountain side and also sample a local favorite: kurotamago (which means black egg in japanese). The eggs are steamed for a while in the sulfurous water and from that process turn black (just on the outside). You can buy them in packs of 6, still warm, and everyone sits on some nearby rocks, sprinkles some salt that come with em and chow down. The legend goes that if you eat one, you will live another 7 years due to the health benefits. 2 will get you 14 more years and you can do the rest of the math from there (nice marketing, huh?). I thought they were awesome but i am biased since I love eggs. Anyway, it was a great trip and everything fit into a weekend believe it or not.
