Located just 50 miles from Tokyo, Japan, Hakone is an area of great natural beauty.

One of the most interesting things to do in Hakone is to visit Owakudani, or the “Great Boiling Valley”, a hot spring with vents that release sulfur dioxide fumes. The area is famous for their black eggs, regular chicken eggs that are boiled in the sulfuric water. The legend is that eating one of the black eggs extends your life by seven years.

One way to reach the area is by taking the Hakone Ropeway, an aerial tram that takes you over the boiling, hissing field of geothermal activity. You immediately notice the rising plumes of sulfur fumes.

After getting off the Ropeway there is a museum. You then proceed to the trail that weaves through the sulfur vents and hot water pools.

We saw the white eggs being put into the hot sulfur water…..

and black eggs coming out of the water. The eggs are sold in shops in Hakone, but getting them at the source was much more interesting.