#Ōwakudani

On our first trip to Japan in 2010, we visited Ōwakudani, literally translated as the great boiling valley. The place is located on the volcano Hakone, about 80 km away from Tokyo. Thanks to several hot sulphur springs, it’s bubbling, steaming, and seriously stinking here. If the weather plays ball, though, you get a good view from here of Japan’s arguably most famous volcano, Fuji-san.

The place is mostly famous for its kuro tamago, the black chicken eggs. They are boiled in the hot sulphur water, which turns the shell black. Word is, eating one of these eggs extends your life by seven years. The boiled eggs are brought to the visitor centre via a special cable car and sold there.

In 2015, the place had to be closed to visitors. Hundreds of smaller quakes, the ground rising by a few centimetres, and an increase in the water pressure of the springs made this necessary. Hanging out here would have been life-threatening. Experts even feared a possible eruption of the volcano.

But Hakone calmed down. Since mid-2016, Ōwakudani has been accessible again with some restrictions; however, sick and pregnant people are still advised against visiting because of the gases in the air. You can reach the visitor centre either via an access road or by cable car from Lake Ashi.

It was a long day today. We were travelling by bus and only arrived at the hotel in the Fuji National Park late in the evening. So late that we almost missed dinner.

In Kamakura we saw a huge bronze Buddha sitting outdoors. You could even go inside the statue. The next stop was the Hasedera temple. Then we headed to Lake Ashi, where we took a boat trip on a pirate ship.

The final stop was Ōwakudani with its sulphur springs. There they have kuro tamago. These are chicken eggs that are boiled in the hot sulphur water and get a black shell as a result. Eating one of these eggs promises seven extra years of life. The view from up there was breathtaking, but so was the stench of sulphur.