Today was a day of long coach rides and short, amazing stops. At 7:45, I boarded a coach to take me to a bus station half an hour away, where I boarded another coach which brought me basically back to where I started on the way to Mount Fuji. It took best part of 3 hours to get to the mountain, but we could see it well before that (and I'm glad we could, as you'll see in a minute).
On the way, we learned that it had snowed the day before, so the 5th station (approximately half way up) was closed and we would only be going to the 4th station, at 2,020m above sea level. It was a bit of a shame, because there's much more of a welcome centre at the 5th station, but weather will be weather.
It was bloomin' freezing when we got off the coach (no surprise), and the cloud was just at the wrong height. Here's a photo of Mount Fuji once we were on it.
After a quick stop, we headed off for a tradition Japanese lunch, which I sadly have no pictures of, so you'll have to trust me when I say it was beautiful. And mostly delicious, although parts of it were a bit slimey.
Lake Ashi came next, and a trip up one of the mountains surrounding it (by cable car). The lake itself is in a caldera, as became really obvious when we got to the top of the mountain.
The view was incredible, but not as incredible as the wind. Some intrepid people walked over to the shrine, but I value my health, so I took photos from a distance and went back down again.
Fuji-san from the coach
On the way, we learned that it had snowed the day before, so the 5th station (approximately half way up) was closed and we would only be going to the 4th station, at 2,020m above sea level. It was a bit of a shame, because there's much more of a welcome centre at the 5th station, but weather will be weather.
It was bloomin' freezing when we got off the coach (no surprise), and the cloud was just at the wrong height. Here's a photo of Mount Fuji once we were on it.
It's up there somewhere, I swear.
After a quick stop, we headed off for a tradition Japanese lunch, which I sadly have no pictures of, so you'll have to trust me when I say it was beautiful. And mostly delicious, although parts of it were a bit slimey.
Lake Ashi came next, and a trip up one of the mountains surrounding it (by cable car). The lake itself is in a caldera, as became really obvious when we got to the top of the mountain.
Lake Ashi, mountains, and things beyond the mountians.
The view was incredible, but not as incredible as the wind. Some intrepid people walked over to the shrine, but I value my health, so I took photos from a distance and went back down again.
The shrine in the distance.
By this time it was getting late, so we piled back onto the coach and came back to Tokyo. But wait, there's more! I wasn't quite ready for bed yet, so I wandered over to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, where they have observation decks that are open late and free to get to. The view was stunning, and it wasn't that crowded, and best of all, the fancy restaurant up there had a soft jazz pianist playing, so I had beautiful music to accompany me!
The View!
The walk home was... exciting, and involved many pauses for map contemplation. But it was a lovely night, so it wasn't all bad, and I got to see parts of Shinjuku I didn't think I'd see.
Finally, in the thrilling conclusion to yesterday's blog, the hotel can't find my hair towel turban thing, so I have waved bye bye to it. Good thing I've got another one at home!
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