Kanagawa in One Day: Lake Ashinoko Moto-Hakone — Guide Harry

Can You Still Enjoy a Private Hakone Tour When the Ropeway and Sightseeing Cruise Are Cancelled? A Licensed Guide's Report

The guests were a group from North America. In Gora the sky was blue, but by the time we reached Sounzan, strong winds had forced the ropeway to suspend operations. We queued for a bus and arrived at Owakudani, where there were many tourists, but the strong winds and fog meant the valley itself was completely invisible. After the guests bought the famous black eggs, I had them visit the Geo Museum. When I asked a staff member, I was told that buses departing from Owakudani would also stop running soon, so we hurried to join the bus queue, but the last bus was full and we could not board. We walked about 15 minutes down the slope to the next bus stop, and from there transferred by bus to reach Motohakone Port.

At that point I had confirmed that the sightseeing pirate ship was operating as usual, but while we were waiting for the bus, the pirate ship service was also cancelled. We had lunch at a lakeside restaurant near Hakone Shrine. The guests each chose ramen from the menu and enjoyed it with plenty of shichimi pepper and chili oil. They said it was very delicious. The zaru soba I ordered was also delicious. Lake Ashi was choppy from the strong winds, and neither the pirate ship nor the sightseeing boat was docked at Motohakone Port. During lunch we talked about many things, and it seemed the main reason they had come to Hakone was to see Mount Fuji, so they said they were disappointed but would come again.

After visiting Hakone Shrine, the guests wished to take a taxi, but when I called the taxi company they had no cars available, so we took a direct bus to Hakone-Yumoto, which had a shorter queue, and then the Hakone Tozan Railway. Including the waiting time in line, it took more than an hour and a half to reach the Open-Air Museum. After explaining how to return from the museum to the Hotel, I ended the tour inside the museum.

Because both the ropeway and the pirate ship had suspended operations and we had no choice but to move by transferring between buses, we went significantly over the scheduled time. Even so, I think it was fortunate that we were able to visit all of the places on the planned itinerary.

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Tour Report by Harry

Hello there,
I’m Harry. This nickname comes from Harry Bosch, a character in American detective novels. I like watching films, listening to music and reading books, especially detective stories. I love meeting people from different countries and would like to help them understand Japanese culture and history. I believe that tourism can connect people all over the world and change the world into something truly peaceful. I was born in Osaka and have lived in Tokyo for more than 35 years. I am very happy to welcome tourists from all over the world. I will do my best to make your days fantastic. I look forward to seeing you soon.