On the Furnicular Train
The Conductor on the Furnicular. There are two trains using one track and halfway up/down the hill, there is a bypass. It looks like both trains are going to collide and at the last minute, they don’t!
On May 11th, we took a bus, a furnicular railway, and a cable car to Owakudani (where we were hoping to get a glance of Fuji). It was raining all day, but we went up there anyways on the off-chance weather might change. It didn’t-so we were treated to howling winds and horizontal rainshowers. The cable car ride was quite exciting, especially for those members of the tour who were fearfull of heights.
Dennis about to board the Gondola (called a Ropeway in Japan!).
The Gondola was swaying in the wind, so it was a nervewracking trip!
Once we finally got up to the Mt. Fuji viewing area, nobody would go outside. It was gusting up to 40 mph…Andre and I decided to walk outside. Dennis got this shot of us, right before we were knocked off kilter by the wind!
After being defeated by mother nature in our effort to see Mt. Fuji, we decided to visit the Hakone Open Air Musuem. I was dubious at first about running around outside in the rain looking at sculptures. Aaron pointed out there is “No Drama” if we wanted to do something else, but most of us stuck it out. See the Hakone Open Air post for pictures…there were so many neat things I had to write a separate article!
After running around in the rain, we all reward ourselves with an afternoon at Yunnesen a resort spa. It was very beautiful and just what a girl coming down with a cold needed!!! I got a massage and spent quite a bit of time sitting in the various onsens. They had over 25 different hot spots and also a steam room! Bliss.
