Hakone!!!

A few weekends ago we went to Hakone. Hakone is considered Tokyo's playground. It has also been called Japan's Yosemite Park. A few hours out of Tokyo and you have lakes, mountains, and most notably, the area is abundant with natural hot springs.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hakone

We went there with the Inoue family. Here we are taking to the waters at Yunessun Spa.
From left to right: Aaron, Mia, Rhett, Tiffany, Mayu and Asa.




http://www.yunessun.com/english/

We spent an afternoon at the spa. This was more than your average onsen. This was like the Las Vegas of spas. Here's the Greek Bath area:

The outdoor kids water park (yes, it was freezing cold, but the water was ohhhhh so warm).

Then there were the "specialty" spas. Read the barrel below:

Aaron and baby Rhett adrift in warm coffee:

The Beer Bath:

Our friend Asa covered in beer bubbles:

Yes, that's a wine bottle hanging over the bath...

Aaron indoctrinating our son into early appreciation of mulled wine, not drinking, just soaking...

If wine or beer are not your cup of tea, maybe green tea is:

Or maybe a nip of Japanese sake?

There were many other baths, but I was only able to capture the highlights.

On our second day in Hakone we took a ferry across Lake Ashi. We then took a cable ropeway up and over the mountains. We got an excellent view of Mt. Fuji. Finally we took a tramway down, and then shinkansen (bullet train) home. We are hoping to head back in the summer time.