Hakone Skyline

This morning the weather was slightly hazy, yet we felt the need to escape from Tokyo and enjoy some nature. Going to Hakone Skyline was risky as we were not sure we would have a clear view on Fuji-san but the car drive was worthwhile anyway and we took our chance. Leaving at around 11 am, we reached Hakone Skyline one hour later and found ourselves in front of this amazing view..Always very difficult to express that feeling on a picture as the light, the air make it very special..But I wanted to share a little bit of what we saw that day..

Fuji-san, the tallest mountain in Japan (3776 m) . And its not so surprising that that nearly perfect shaped volcano has been worshipped as a sacred mountain. It did last time erupt in 1708, and It stands on the border between Yamanashi and Shizuoka Prefectures.

Hakone Skyline is also famous for something else. Every Sunday morning, usually before 7am, a whole bunch of crazy drivers of all kinds gather together on than 15km stretch. One main reason being the view of course, but the other most important for those folks is that the police never gets there so early... And from 6am or even earlier, you can see those drivers racing against each other on that not so wide road, drifting, competing and basically ..Enjoying! I must admit that I did that once myself with a friend and we had lots of fun. That day we were late, so we didn't see many cars, but surprisingly, the Harley Davidson Club of Tokyo was there. Taking a group picture ! Well, those people are for sure not speed fanatic (at least not with a Harley) but they definitely enjoy the finest things in life..And that day, the view was one of them!

A little bit further down the road, we did stop on the side together with some of our racers..And climbed that little slope. Dreamers gather there too looking at the landscape..Painters find here a little quietness facing the beautiful Hakone Lake Ashinoko, and well, some "artists" found interesting to put some tires together in a shape of a modern sculpture I guess. Maybe those are the rests of the unlucky ones on the road...