22nd – 23rd September 2019
Standing on the deck of the ship with a hundred others, Aishwarya and I stared at the vast expanse of water in amazement as dark clouds slowly filled the sky.
Pirate Ship!
I struggled to process what the heck was going on – we were on a pirate ship with a few hundred other tourists in the middle of a LAKE! Decked in hues, the Queen Ashinoko was the prettiest pirate ship I had ever seen.
“My heart will go on” was constantly playing in my head for some reason – I wasn’t surprised I kept looking at the bow of the ship looking for people posing like Jack and Rose!
Brimming with natural beauty, Hakone is a hill station which doubles as weekend getaway from Tokyo.
Hakonemachi Village
The interesting part of our experience was the stormy weather (typhoon prediction for the entire duration of our 2-day stay) – while I would normally cringe at being welcomed by a typhoon at the end of a 6-hour-long rail journey (involving multiple transfers), I felt grateful – for having a more complete experience, and to have experienced an amazing weather earlier in the week.
Hakonemachi Village
It grew colder as the ship commenced its short journey to the tiny lakeshore towns of Hakonemachi and Motohakone. As we disembarked, I was reminded of my trip to Interlaken (Switzerland) a year ago. “What is this place!” I wondered as we docked again.
It hadn’t taken me long to fall in love with this part of Japan as well. Accommodation had been one of my responsibilities, and I was pretty happy with my choice of hostels.
Emblem Flow Hakone… The BEST HOSTEL EVER!
We were booked at Emblem Flow Hakone, which was right outside the Gora station. The place was crazy good – in addition to well-maintained super-clean spacious rooms and a tiny kitchenette, it had a massage chair AND AN ONSEN (Japanese hot spring).
The best part about the place though were the people – the staff was just amazingly kind, and I ended up learning quite a bit from my roommates during the course of our stay.
Reflecting on my journey, I realize that Hakone was a series of bizarrely memorable events. The first one is our ride to the Hakone Jinza (shrine).
It was the craziest experience possible – despite a raging typhoon the bus services ran perfectly according to schedule.
View Point near Hakone Jinza… the tempestuous waters of
The more interesting part about the experience was that people queuing for the perfect photo near the Torii gate (this was the first time I ever saw someone waiting in queue for a photo!). Another unforgettable memory is the mile-long hike to 7Eleven after sunset. With unavailability of the streetlights, navigating our way in the dark was an adrenaline-pumping challenge (we realized a little later that the actual challenge was hiking back up to the hostel from the foot of the hill).
The other crazy memory I had was the onsen itself – although not very keen on trying it at first (thanks to the dress code). I was glad I experienced it after a roomie suggested – sitting and soaking in the mineral-rich onsen was probably the most relaxing experience. The half-hour I spent in the massage chair after that made me feel like I was floating for the rest of the evening.
Gora Park
Here is a pro-tip if you intend to visit Hakone any time in the near future – invest in the Hakone Free Pass. It allows unlimited rides in the buses and trains – and even includes the ride in the pirate ship in addition to free or subsidized entry to a number of attractions (like the Gora Park).
And that’s me at Gora Park!
Special thanks to Aishwarya for the pics!
A Roller Coaster called Life 