Because our time in Japan is so short we are following a very strict itinerary. Every day is planned to perfection. On the agenda for today was a trip to Asakusa to view temples, followed by a trip to the national museum, Ueno park and the Ueno zoo. However, when we threw the curtains open the sky was completely clear and we decided to take a gamble. We ditched the plan and set off in search of Mount Fuji.
Japan’s highest mountain, standing at 3776 metres high, Mount Fuji is a “notoriously shy” mountain. While thousands of people climb it each year according to some Blog I read on the internet (and because I read it on the internet it must be true) there’s only a 5% change of catching a glimpse of this active volcano and world heritage site. We caught the Shikansen (the bullet train to you and me) to a nearby town and here we visited the tourist information centre where a very nice girl sold us a Hakkano day pass. The pass included all our transportation so we eagerly boarded a busy train in search of the snow peaked mountain. Unfortunately the train didn’t quite take us all the way. We got on another train. And then a cable car which was basically just a steep train, followed by a bus. The amount of travel was a bit annoying but it was all worth it when we stepped off the bus and were met by this absolute beauty.
The sky was completely clear and thanks to the volcanic activity of the area, the air was not only crisp and cool but also thick with the smell of rotten eggs! We spent quite a bit of time at the viewing point, taking selfies, shouting at Rory because he wasn’t taking enough pictures of me and just enjoying the view. We honestly couldn’t believe how lucky we were to have gotten such a good day and such a good view.
As we rode the ropeway (gondola/cable car) down to the lake we had our last glimpse of the mountain... Or so we thought! The last part of our trip involved a boat trip across the lake. We had twenty minutes to kill so we went on a lakeside walk and saw some holiday homes. Even in the middle of winter this place is really beautiful and it just further highlighted how much of this amazing country we won’t even get to see. Eventually we boarded our pirate style boat and began sailing towards our final destination. As the trip came to a close we looked behind us and saw Mount Fuji. We honestly couldn’t believe our luck that we had an entire day of unobstructed views and amazing weather – even if it was absolutely freezing standing on the upper deck!
One quick walk to the ancient Cedar forest as all that was left and so we walked amongst the 400 year old trees before heading back to the bus. Unfortunately this slight detour meant that we waited ages for the bus but we did eventually make it back to the train station and then to Shinjuku.
In an attempt to not spend hours looking for dinner we went to the first restaurant that looked decent. We had another Japanese feast and while Rory really enjoyed his meal, I thought mine was a bit average. In an attempt to rectify the situation we went in to a shop full of puppies. Yes, a shop that literally sells puppies, which is obviously awful and I’d never support one but there was a brief moment, after seeing the most beautiful dachshund, that I genuinely considered how much it would cost to fly home with a chum for Kelso. Leaving the puppies was heart-breaking and so to cheer myself up we spent £9 on niceys!
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