April
30, Monday
On the way up to Mount Fuji
Farm land at the base of the mountains. Hardly any houses in the hills
My first sight of Mount Fuji. There aren't any blue skies, but at least we can see the mountain.
We stop at the Fuji Visitor Centre for a potty break before going up the mountain. Since we are higher up in elevation, there are still Cherry blossoms here.
The mountain is beautifully majestic
There are clouds above us, and below us in the valleys.
Its peak is 3,776 m (12,385 ft) above sea level. We are going up to station # 5 which is at 2,305 m and the limit for accessing by car. At this time of year the mountain is still covered with snow. Climbing season is limited from July 1 to August 26 each year. We are told that 100 days / year Mt Fuji is covered in clouds and it is not possible to see it; we are lucky this morning because although there are clouds in the valleys, at Station # 5 we are above them and the peak is clear, although not with blue skies.
As we climb higher up the mountain the type of trees growing changes radically. At one point we are higher up than the clouds in the valleys below us. And then, we are in the snow. I was not expecting this and am not dressed very warmly today. Good thing I’m a northerner!
A zoom of the mountain shows the ridges where the snow has already melted away.
From the roof of the lodge I get a great view of the clouded valley below
A different angle zoom of the peaks
It is like a small resort area at Station # 5, souvenir shops and restaurants.
The is even a shinto shrine
A clearer shot at the valley at the back of the station
Little red riding hood !
The Japanese version of a Sherpa
A look back at Station # 5 as we head back to the bus
These trees could have been part of the Group of Seven paintings
The flank of this mountain is covered with flowering trees. It actually looks like a water fall coming down into the lake.
We reach our destination and both the lower and upper cable car stations are visible in this shot.
but a close look reveals the pink centres
Our trip up the cable car begins
As we get higher up we can see one of the ferry boats making its way back to the terminal at the other end of the lake.
There's a golf course down there !
I can also make out the ocean over the next ridge, but it does not come out so well in the pictures
On the back side of the station, we realize that we aren't at the top yet. There's a path leading up to the house at the top. To give you a bit of perspective, just below those bright green lines are two people walking up the path.
From the front of the station, we get a great look at Lake Ashi below.
“Lake Ashinoko was formed in the caldera of Mount Hakone after the volcano's last eruption 3000 years ago. Komagatake, the central volcanic cone of the Hakone range, rises 1,327 meters above sea level.” The gondola can carry 101 people ! It is very windy up there so I make it a quick walk up to the pavilion on top of the mountain and back down to the gondola station for the ride back down the mountain.
As I near the Shinto Shrine the clouds roll in and put a shroud over everything. It looks mystic.
They have inukshuks here ! Japanese invention or Inuit..... OR the same.... evolution of man and his travels from what is now Asia to what is now North America.
Inside the Shinto shrine
Shinto Gates to the temple. I'm on top of the mountain !
Looking back at the top cable car station from the Shinto Gates
Time to head back down the mountain.
On the ride back the clouds have lifted and we can see one of the towns on the lake
And then a second one
More flowering trees on the flanks of the mountain as we come down
A different cherry tree when we arrive at the bottom. This one's blooms are still very pink.
From here, we drive back down around Lake Ashi and on to Odawara City where we will take the Shinkansen train back to Tokyo (only 40 minutes by bullet train).
As we wait at the station for our train to arrive we see 3 or 4 bullet trains zoom by without stopping.
That is soooo fast !
Finally one of them stops on the other side of the tracks and we finally get a good look at it. The front looks like an aircraft.
Inside the train car, on our way to Tokyo
The ride is incredible. It is fast obviously because it is difficult to take pictures of things I’m seeing outside but what a smooth ride ! I’m going to love travelling through Japan by bullet train.
I try taking a lot of pictures, but we are moving too fast. The only ones that turn out OK are those where there isn't anything in the foreground.
This is was it looks like when something is close to the train
We are on a set of tracks, crossing over 4 other sets of tracks below
Arriving at the Tokyo Station.
By the time we arrive at Tokyo Station it is dinner time, so I opt for one of the restaurants I spotted the first day I went “walk-about” in the Ginza. It is actually four restaurants in one main building.
One of the restaurants is Mexican and I’m salivating as I wait for my “beef burrito”. God ! How long has it been since I’ve eaten that ! And it is delicious, every single bite is savoured. I order a mojito to go with it and am pleasantly surprised to see that it has been made with fresh mint. Now, that’s dessert !
Mexican Restaurant on the second level
Walking out onto the streets of the Ginza districts, with all its lights
Finally get back to the small side street that my hotel is on. Look at how clean and well lit everything is. Frésa Inn has its sign lit up near the roof.
Trip to Mount Fuji today. I wake up early and walk to nearby Hotel Yaesu
Fujiya for the scheduled pick-up at 8 am.
I have time to grab a sandwich and coffee at their coffee shop.
The bus pick-up goes well, but surprise … this is just the pick-up service to a bus station
where we are sorted out again for the various tours leaving today (city tour,
Mt Fuji tour, etc). It is 9:30 by the
time we actually leave on our bus. The
gentleman tour guide today has fairly good English and likes to joke. Not that his jokes are that funny, but he
laughs at them himself and that makes us all laugh. He’s really nice. By the time we make it out of the city, we
are on a major highway (possibly Hwy 20) towards Oisuki City. It is a grey day,
no sun out at all. It takes a total of 1
hr 45 min to get to Mt Fuji. 
On the way up to Mount Fuji
Farm land at the base of the mountains. Hardly any houses in the hills
My first sight of Mount Fuji. There aren't any blue skies, but at least we can see the mountain.
We stop at the Fuji Visitor Centre for a potty break before going up the mountain. Since we are higher up in elevation, there are still Cherry blossoms here.
The mountain is beautifully majestic
There are clouds above us, and below us in the valleys.
Its peak is 3,776 m (12,385 ft) above sea level. We are going up to station # 5 which is at 2,305 m and the limit for accessing by car. At this time of year the mountain is still covered with snow. Climbing season is limited from July 1 to August 26 each year. We are told that 100 days / year Mt Fuji is covered in clouds and it is not possible to see it; we are lucky this morning because although there are clouds in the valleys, at Station # 5 we are above them and the peak is clear, although not with blue skies.
As we climb higher up the mountain the type of trees growing changes radically. At one point we are higher up than the clouds in the valleys below us. And then, we are in the snow. I was not expecting this and am not dressed very warmly today. Good thing I’m a northerner!
A zoom of the mountain shows the ridges where the snow has already melted away.
From the roof of the lodge I get a great view of the clouded valley below
Mt Fuji is an active volcano which last erupted 300 years
ago. In 1707 there were three huge
earthquakes and Fuji erupted and destroyed many towns and cities around
it. The guide jokes that it should erupt
again any time now ! ! ! If that was a
joke, it wasn’t funny; no one
laughed. When it does erupt again he
tells us, it is very likely that Tokyo will be destroyed and millions of lives
will be lost. Japan sits at the
junction of three major tectonic plates:
Pacific, North American, Philippines.
The tsunami that hit the north east coast of Japan March 11, 2011
brought the water levels 50 meters higher than normal in that area. You all saw the news and the devastation this
caused. Our guide explains that the
height of the waves was aided by the underwater gulfs under the ocean in that
area. On Japanese TV they still show
film clips of this as well as the work that is being done to repair and
rebuild.
A different angle zoom of the peaks
It is like a small resort area at Station # 5, souvenir shops and restaurants.
The is even a shinto shrine
A clearer shot at the valley at the back of the station
Little red riding hood !
The Japanese version of a Sherpa
A look back at Station # 5 as we head back to the bus
After our 45 minute stop at this station, we board the
bus and leave for lunch, but part way down the mountain we reach the lower clouds and visibility is not so good.
At the bottom of Mount Fuji, near the Info Centre and the roller coaster rides we stop at a hotel for a great lunch; a typical Japanese meal.
Isn't it great that there is a little card telling us what everything is !
I eat everything up and head outside for a few more pictures
The people were screaming on this roller coaster ride
Check out the bottom left hand corner of this picture. It looks like a crater within a crater. Signs of the next eruption forming?
Good bye Mt Fuji !
After lunch we head for Hakone on Lake Ashi. We are in a rush to make the ferry in time for our cable car ride up the Komagatake mountain range.
The farmers are tilling their fields, getting ready to plant. Elevation here is much higher.
And the rice paddies have been flooded, preparation to plant the seedlings.
Cherry blossoms are still in bloom
We get to the ferry stop just as the ferry is pulling in and barely have time to exit the bus, go through the building that leads to the dock and board the ferry. We are now in an actual crater !
A few of the ferries are built like pirate ships; very popular with families.
At the bottom of Mount Fuji, near the Info Centre and the roller coaster rides we stop at a hotel for a great lunch; a typical Japanese meal.
Isn't it great that there is a little card telling us what everything is !
I eat everything up and head outside for a few more pictures
The people were screaming on this roller coaster ride
Check out the bottom left hand corner of this picture. It looks like a crater within a crater. Signs of the next eruption forming?
Good bye Mt Fuji !
After lunch we head for Hakone on Lake Ashi. We are in a rush to make the ferry in time for our cable car ride up the Komagatake mountain range.
The farmers are tilling their fields, getting ready to plant. Elevation here is much higher.
And the rice paddies have been flooded, preparation to plant the seedlings.
Cherry blossoms are still in bloom
We get to the ferry stop just as the ferry is pulling in and barely have time to exit the bus, go through the building that leads to the dock and board the ferry. We are now in an actual crater !
The flank of this mountain is covered with flowering trees. It actually looks like a water fall coming down into the lake.
We reach our destination and both the lower and upper cable car stations are visible in this shot.
We disembark the ferry on the other side of the lake and
make our way through some shopping streets.
I had planned on buying a small puzzle box (you have to move certain
parts in sequence to open it up) but it turns out they are cheaply made so I
forego the purchase for now. We make it
up the hill to the cable car (Hakone Komagatake Aerial Tramway) which will take
us up the 1,800 meter distance, to the top of the ridge in 7 minutes. Surprise, surprise ! The clouds have cleared enough for us to
distinguish Mount Fuji in the distance.
Cherry blossoms are almost white in this group of trees
but a close look reveals the pink centres
Our trip up the cable car begins
As we get higher up we can see one of the ferry boats making its way back to the terminal at the other end of the lake.
There's a golf course down there !
I can also make out the ocean over the next ridge, but it does not come out so well in the pictures
On the back side of the station, we realize that we aren't at the top yet. There's a path leading up to the house at the top. To give you a bit of perspective, just below those bright green lines are two people walking up the path.
From the front of the station, we get a great look at Lake Ashi below.
“Lake Ashinoko was formed in the caldera of Mount Hakone after the volcano's last eruption 3000 years ago. Komagatake, the central volcanic cone of the Hakone range, rises 1,327 meters above sea level.” The gondola can carry 101 people ! It is very windy up there so I make it a quick walk up to the pavilion on top of the mountain and back down to the gondola station for the ride back down the mountain.
As I near the Shinto Shrine the clouds roll in and put a shroud over everything. It looks mystic.
They have inukshuks here ! Japanese invention or Inuit..... OR the same.... evolution of man and his travels from what is now Asia to what is now North America.
Inside the Shinto shrine
Shinto Gates to the temple. I'm on top of the mountain !
Looking back at the top cable car station from the Shinto Gates
Time to head back down the mountain.
On the ride back the clouds have lifted and we can see one of the towns on the lake
And then a second one
More flowering trees on the flanks of the mountain as we come down
A different cherry tree when we arrive at the bottom. This one's blooms are still very pink.
From here, we drive back down around Lake Ashi and on to Odawara City where we will take the Shinkansen train back to Tokyo (only 40 minutes by bullet train).
As we wait at the station for our train to arrive we see 3 or 4 bullet trains zoom by without stopping.
That is soooo fast !
Finally one of them stops on the other side of the tracks and we finally get a good look at it. The front looks like an aircraft.
Inside the train car, on our way to Tokyo
The ride is incredible. It is fast obviously because it is difficult to take pictures of things I’m seeing outside but what a smooth ride ! I’m going to love travelling through Japan by bullet train.
I try taking a lot of pictures, but we are moving too fast. The only ones that turn out OK are those where there isn't anything in the foreground.
This is was it looks like when something is close to the train
We are on a set of tracks, crossing over 4 other sets of tracks below
Arriving at the Tokyo Station.
By the time we arrive at Tokyo Station it is dinner time, so I opt for one of the restaurants I spotted the first day I went “walk-about” in the Ginza. It is actually four restaurants in one main building.
One of the restaurants is Mexican and I’m salivating as I wait for my “beef burrito”. God ! How long has it been since I’ve eaten that ! And it is delicious, every single bite is savoured. I order a mojito to go with it and am pleasantly surprised to see that it has been made with fresh mint. Now, that’s dessert !
Mexican Restaurant on the second level
Walking out onto the streets of the Ginza districts, with all its lights
Finally get back to the small side street that my hotel is on. Look at how clean and well lit everything is. Frésa Inn has its sign lit up near the roof.
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