After enjoying the trip with the Hakone pirate ships, from Motohakone-ko to Togendai I took the Hakone Ropeway…
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… and after a few minutes climb to the altitude of 1044 meters, I arrived in… O-jigoku - Great Hell. :)
O-jigoku is a crater formed by a huge phreatic explosion occurred during the last eruption of Mount Hakone, 3000 years ago.It is currently known as O-wakudani, the Great Boiling Valley. The current name was chosen in 1876, before a visit by the Emperor Meiji, because the O-jigoku (Great Hell) name was deemed inauspicious for the visit of the Emperor.
Follow up:
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Owakudani is one of the main attractions for the tourists visiting Hakone. Several hiking trails start from here, some longer (several hours) towards Togendai and Mount Komagatake and a shorter one (about one kilometer), which is obviously the most popular.
The path starts from the Owakudani Ropeway Station and must be strictly followed because the area still presents some dangers, especially because of the frequent landslides.
However, large scale landslides haven’t occurred since 1910, when they were caused by heavy rain.
Today the area is protected against large scale disasters by many erosion control works.
It’s a spectacular trail since the beginning. Sulfurous gases, looking like smoke, are emitted from unnumbered fumaroles, creating the illusion that the bushes are on fire…
…. some of them thinner…
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… other covering large areas…
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… and all combined with a strong stinging sulphur smell.
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I started at a fast pace, delighted by the view but I suddenly became tired…
… and I got a slight dizzy feeling as well. Looking down at the rocky path I had the impression that it is unstable and I also noticed that I was breathing hard… kind of like Darth Vader… :D
I was in an area with strong emanations and I couldn’t believe how fast you can be struck down by the gas.
It took me a couple of minutes to accommodate and in the meantime I arrived to the main attraction point, near a small hot water lake.
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I spent quite a lot of time here…
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… because I enjoyed photographing the frequent bursts of hot water.
A few steps further…
… I arrived to a cottage where the famous Kuro-tamago ( 黒玉子 ) black eggs are prepared. These are normal eggs, but boiled hard in the sulphuric hot water, they turn black and smell sulphuric.
There’s an interesting belief regarding the Kuro-tamago, it is said that one egg eaten can increase your life with 7 years. However, it is not recommended to eat too many, eating three is bad, so two and a half is the maximum recommended, which will probably add to your life seventeen and a half years. :) …
Well, I think one is enough for me…
From behind the cottage, a small funicular transports the eggs to a shop located downhill, so you don’t really need to go all the way uphill to eat Kuro-tamago - but you’ll have to be content eating them cold. :p
Further on the path, that became a lot larger, I passed next to a terraced area.
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A few more fumaroles under groups of black rocks…
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… then the path narrows again.
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At some point I passed by a clear water spring, probably hot…
Even if the last eruption took place thousands of years ago, the place is still unfavorable to vegetation.
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The grass seems to be doing well, but the shrubs and trees rarely live long.
From time to time, I spotted some thicker tree, but completely dry…
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… however, the struggle for adaptation continues.
And with these last images the trail ends, arriving again at the Ropeway Station…
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… I boarded the cabin…
… and looked again at the whole area from above. The place left me a powerful impression, and I felt the sulphur smell until late in the evening.
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