One of the best times to visit Hakone is mid August. Most
Tokyoites return to their hometowns and the jam-packed city becomes less congested and livable. Even the city’s most crammed tourist destinations don’t suffer from overcrowding during this period. I exploited this opportunity for exploring the country’s busiest hot spa resort — the hills of Hakone, beaches of Yugawara and peninsula of Manazuru.
Hakone
Downtown Yugawara
Manazuru
My bike journey started at Odawara railway station when I had breakfast there. The railway station was fairly large and there were two coffee shops that were open early on Saturday.
And as I walked out of the terminus, I found a lovely castle-town on the shore. The highway 135 was severely clogged as usual. I took an old pathway to Manazuru. It’s always important to avoid highways and stay away from crowds!
The pathway was good. It was well maintained, had less vehicular traffic and was more peaceful than the highway running parallel to it. I really enjoyed riding there. Sadly it ended at Manazuru railway station, which was located at the entrance of the headland. I found a small fishing town with beautiful beaches there.
The temperature rose gradually to 94.6 °F. My skin felt like it was on fire. I escaped from the beaches to the woods and started climbing up to Hakone along Yugawara-Tsubaki road.
The road was steep and long! And there was virtually no beverage vending machine alongside the road after passing by Okuyugawara Onsen hotels. I severely underestimated the heat and the lack of drinking water. I learned it the hard way and headed back soon after reaching Taikanzan.
Another beautiful day in the nature.
