Putting the fun in funicular.

Ahoy, matey.

Thursday, April 29 was a national holiday, so Brian, Davin, Jaime, and I took off for Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park, where the main attraction is transportation. With the purchase of the Hakone Free Pass, visitors can enjoy unlimited use of four different modes, in fact—boat, alpine railway, funicular, and cable car—which together make a complete loop around the area, offering views of clear lakes, forests, sulphurous hot springs, and snowcapped Mt. Fuji if the weather cooperates.

Not even windy, rainy weather could dampen our pirate ship fun on Lake Ashinoko; we had run of the deck since the other passengers were all huddled inside. Fire the cannons!

Land ho! In the village of Hakone, a reconstructed checkpoint of the Old Tokaido Road, the historic coastal route from Tokyo to Kyoto.

Recovering from the incident five minutes prior when a fisherman cast into the wind and hooked Brian's pants, wrapping him with line:

Then on to Japan's oldest alpine railway! It switchbacked slowly up one side of a huge hill by moving back and forth on graded tracks.

All that pirate ship excitement took a lot out of my groupies.

But next came the FUNicular. This elevated railway took us from the alpine train station higher up in the hills to connect with the cable car system.

The Hakone Ropeway holds the Guinness Book record for "World's Busiest Gondola Lift"! The day we visited, it had been shut down all morning due to rain and high winds, but the late afternoon sun showed up and the weather calmed just enough for the ropeway to open for a couple hours.

It was still quite gusty, causing our gondola to sway as we passed over a valley dotted with wisps of steam venting from sulphur hot springs.

We reached the crest of the hill, and there was Fuji, gorgeous in the glaring sun. The eight or so of us in the gondola gave a collective gasp :)

Then the ropeway descended to the lakeshore where we'd boarded the ship that morning, the loop complete.And in the ropeway ticketing area, we found the perfect destination for our next mini-vacation:

A spa near Hakone with a variety of themed bathing pools—including red wine, green tea, sake, coffee, and more—each bath with specific health-enriching qualities (so they advertise). Oh, Japan!