Back to gallery

The Gentle Path to the Beyond

This exact location was a little path not too far from the city center. I was unable to pinpoint exactly with the GPS, but if you show this photo to any local, they can point you in the right way with a nice Japanese-gesture.

 

The little train that carried me into Hakone started winding through misty mountains. The trees were thick and a fog was rolling in. I had a feeling that it would stay wet, moody, and fairly perfect. It had that heaviness that made you feel like it would remain like that for a few days, and it did.

 

Before I get on train rides, I have a wonderful but dangerous habit of loading up with pastries. Train stations seem to have nice little selections of all sorts of foreign twists on the usual subjects. And, since I consider myself an explorer, I thought it would be good to get a TON of pastries and try them all. It's very nice... sitting there... looking out the train window at a new land... rain falling... eating pastries... (and I'm only a little ashamed to say that, upon arrival, my pastry bag was empty.)

 

from the blog at www.stuckincustoms.com

71,059 views
971 faves
183 comments
Uploaded on May 23, 2011
Taken on October 2, 2009