Daily Journal

Day 19 | August 5, 2005

Hakone

Today the team traveled to the caldera volcano of Hakone, a popular tourist destination to the west of Tokyo, for one last day of sampling. Having left our hotel at 5am we traveled to Hakone by train and car, passing the beautiful Mount Fuji en route, which we were thrilled to be able to see for the first time since our arrival in Japan!

We were very fortunate to have Dr. Takeshi Ohba from the Tokyo Institute of Technology with us, and thanks to his expert knowledge of Hakone (his most recent trip there had been a mere two days before we went!) he was able to inform us which of the numerous fumaroles to sample. As a result, we were able to sample three extensive fumarole areas, a great way to end a fantastic trip, even if we had to endure heavy Tokyo traffic on our return - meaning we didn't return to our hotel until nearly 10pm!

And that's it! The next few days will be spent seeing some more of the sights of Tokyo as well as packing samples and equipment for our journey home. If you have any comments about the website, please send them to David Hilton.

Sayonara!