I took my wife and her friends three to Hakone on Tuesday.(May 15 of 2007)

  We bought the special member's tickets with the fee 6000 yen. It was available only from May 13 to May 24. This ticket can be used any trains we like for one day, including Shinkansen, but only as for JR East Japan area.

  We left Niigata Station by the earliest train and headed for Tokyo Station. From Tokyo we transferred into the regular JR Tokaido Line to Odawara Station.

  We couldn't take Tokaido Shinkansen because it belongs to JR Tokai. From Odawara we took a bus for Hakone-en beside the Ashino-ko Lake. It took one and a half hour to get there from Odawara.

  There was a rope way runs up to the top of Koma-ga-take, the second highest mountain of 1327 meters.

  When we reached Hakone-en at noon, a sudden thunder hit us. The rope way had been closed. We waited for the thunder to pass, taking lunch at the bottom station. After one hour, the rope way opened again and we got into the rope way. There was an open field covered with bamboo grass around the top station and the summit was occupied by Hakone Shrine.

  Leaving sightseers, we headed for Kami-yama (meaning "god mountain"), the highest mountain of Hakone volcanoes, which is 1438 meters.

  First descending, we made a way up through a beautiful forest to Kami-yama from where we descended a long way to Sounzan Station, passing Oowaku-dani junction.

  At Oowaku-dani junction, we found a left trail leading down to Oowaku-dani. It was closed last year (2006) because of volcanic gas, but now it has been permitted to pass through carefully. It took around three hours to go to Sounzan from Koma-ga-take.

  From Sounzan we took a cable car and went down to Gora Hot Spring. From Gora we took a Hakone mountain Railway with the switch back system on its way down and went down to Yumoto.

  From Yumoto we transferred into Odakyu Line for Odawara Station from where we changed into the regular Tokaido Line and returned Tokyo at 7:30 in the evening.

  I enjoyed planning my own trip and we all enjoyed going through an amazing variety of transport in it. On the package tour we will never have the experiences like this. I was very satisfied with our trip, even though there was a little time loss.