The Hakone Ropeway brought us from Owakudani to Sounzan stations, the latter being also the terminal point of the system. The plan from earlier on was to next make our way to the popular open air museum – famous for its quirky outdoor exhibits – and also to see the night illuminations there which begin at 5PM. It was already mid-day by this time, and as we wanted to be back in our Tokyo hotel by early evening to pack before we fly to Sapporo next, we reluctantly dropped the museum and substituted it with a place from earlier versions of our itinerary – Gora Park. The normal movement path would be to take the Hakone Tozan cablecar from Sounzan to Gora stations, but since the cablecar system was in maintenance, replacement buses were present to ferry visitors from Sounzan outwards.
I wasn’t expecting much from Gora Park, but came out of it pleasantly surprised. It’s ostensibly a French-styled garden, and smallish – one could easily cover the park itself in an hour, and longer if you opt for hands-on activities at the garden’s crafting house. I imagine that the park would really burst into colors in any other season, as a lot of shrubbery had shedded their leaves for winter. But there was still enough for the wife to see, be fascinated with the numerous species of flora, including ones she’d never seen before, e.g. black grass. Admission is normally ¥550, but it’s free if you’re on the Hakone Freepass.
That’s a wrap for Day 04. We’re leaving Tokyo tomorrow morning to begin our main segment of the trip – ten days in Hokkaido!
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