Kind Of Like Rails - Blog Posts
Hakone Ropeway
The gondola lift up the Schauinsland is very good, but my favourite so far is definitely the Hakone Ropeway. After the train into Hakone, another train to Gôra, and a funicular, the last leg up the mountain is covered by this funitel, on which cars are suspended by two cables rather than one.
The Ropeway carries passengers up to Ôwakudani through the forest... at least as far as that ridge.
Mount Hakone is an active volcano and "Ôwakudani", 大涌谷, literally means "great boiling valley", featuring bright yellow sulphur deposits and gas vents. Going from lush green slopes to the mineral hellscape of the crater in an instant is a breathtaking contrast, and one of my all-time favourite moments from my travels.
The Ropeway can obviously only run when the volcano isn't too active. When I first rode it in 2016, staff handed out damp tissues for passengers to cover their nose and mouth and protect themselves against the gases. After traversing the crater, the Ropeway continues down the other side of the mountain to the North end of Lake Ashi, where one would continue a tour by boarding one of the "pirate ships" that cruise on the lake.
