Emily has been sleeping until at least 7am most days lately, but of course, being away from home it was not surprising that she stirred at 5.30 and would not go back to sleep. So much for our hoped-for 8 hours of kip. We took it in turns to entertain her while the other snoozed under a nice cosy duvet. She enjoyed emptying Nick's wallet: starting as she means to go on!
Breakfast was OK, if not that substantial, and at least Emily ate all her porridge. From our table we looked out on a gloomy lake and brooding hills. It was drizzling a bit as we got aboard the first pirate ship of the day, the Victory, back across to Togendai at the northern end of Ashinoko. What would Nelson have made of the Japanese Hinomaru flag flying, and his ship being touted as a pirate boat?
Our objective was a ropeway ride to Owakudani (Hell Valley), on the slopes of a shapely peak. This was another cluster of steaming vents in a volcanic wasteland of stunted and blackened trees and yellow-streaked earth.
The ride up took us above some lovely tree colour, and in the distance marched blue-grey ridges layered with cloud.
It is a popular spot, and crowds were queuing to see black eggs being boiled in one of the hot springs. We didn't fancy waiting in line, so we took a little walk up a side trail for a few minutes, but it was too cold to keep Emily out for long. Again, we'd underestimated the conditions. Nick thinks I am mollycoddling her, but at least she's not buried in enough clothing for an Arctic expedition like most Japanese babies I've seen lately. I'm surprised they don't expire with heatstroke or suffocation.
Back in the cable car station a delicious smell wafted, which Nick correctly identified as baked sweet potato. We decided to treat ourselves to some later, but as we needed to feed Emily we headed upstairs to the restaurant. It was too early for lunch really (though Nick ordered a curry!), and maybe that is why Emily refused to eat. Frustrating, but understandable.
Afterwards we took the last ride down to Sounzan. The trees on this last leg were even more vivid
and across the valley we could see where a large kanji character had been marked out on the hillside for an Obon beacon. Typically, on our return the potato seller had just sold out his last batch, except for one little spud which we had to share.
We thought we had better get back across the lake, so sailed one more time on the Victory, getting off at Hakone-machi, half a mile further along the south shore. By the time we arrived it had come on to rain lightly, and we were really hungry. We couldn't find anywhere to eat without a queue, and needed to make our way back so that we could pick up the bus for the journey home. The road was virtually gridlocked, so I was panicking about the bus being stuck too. Consequently, I didn't enjoy the path back to Moto-Hakone, which passes through a famous cryotomeria grove, even though we found another baked sweet potato stand.
We grabbed a few provisions from 7-Eleven and rushed back to the pension to collect our backpack, noting as we passed that the queue at the bus stop was very long. As we parted from our friendly host he exhorted us to 'please come back'. It'll be a cold day in hell before that happens.
I was now really concerned about getting home. At the bus stop, a man with a light sabre was wielding it like a cattle prod, trying to cram dozens of people onto the bus. I've no idea how they managed to get so many on one vehicle, but thankfully it meant we were at head of the line for the next one, so we got a seat and could put our rucksacks on the only luggage rack. I was pleased that we did not take same windy road back to Odawara. Emily had cheese triangles and satsuma to tide her over as she had had so little lunch. Despite my panic, we got to the station at the time we'd planned. It was exciting seeing several bullet trains rip through while we waited on the platform, Odawara being on the mainline. Darkness fell as we travelled back into Tokyo.
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