Destination: Japan
Duration: 15 Days 15 Nights (May 31~Jun 14, 2014)
Day 9: A Fail Attempt at Mt Fuji
We booked a day tour for Mt Fuji today but were informed
that it got cancelled few days ago. I did not want to join the Hakone day tour
since I’d been there before (link)
thus I planned another DIY trip to Mt Fuji 5th Station via Lake
Kawaguchiko (another great place for Mt Fuji Lookout). The highway bus ticket
from Shinjuku to Kawaguchiko Station can be booked here (link)
at 3,500 Yen for a round trip.
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| At the Shinjuku Express Bus Terminal |
We took the 7.40am train from Shinjuku Express Bus
Terminal and managed to arrive at Kawaguchiko Station at around 9.30am.
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| We are waiting for the bus! |
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| Here it is! |
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| We've arrived! |
We
bought the bus ticket to Mt Fuji 5th Station (2,100 Yen round trip)
along with the Q-coupon (Ropeway+Cruise+2 day Bus Access) as well. We walked
around the station area since the bus would only depart to Mt Fuji 5th
Station at 10.20am. The area was quiet and colder if compared with Tokyo area.
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| Thomas Train?! O.o |
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| Bus & Train Ticket Counter |
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| The Retro Bus |
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| In front of the Kawaguchiko Station |
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| Museum of Art? |
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| Tickets! Too many tickets! |
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| Cute Doggie! |
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| Sammy & the Train |
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| Hello Kitty Angsting? |
The bus to Mt Fuji 5th Station took around 1
hour and we could only see thick fog along the way. Even the road was covered
in fog in certain area and we were wondering how the driver was going to see
anything. Since the fog was so thick, we all expected Mt Fuji would shy away
from us this morning. *sigh*
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| Waiting for another bus! |
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| OMG!!! Can he see anything at all? |
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| It's totally FOGGY! |
Mt Fuji 5th Station was covered by Fog too –
it was a small town with a shrine, some lodging for climbers, souvenir shops
& restaurants. The place was swamped with people when we reached. We took
some pictures at the Komitake shrine and the shops – did I mention the weather was COLD?
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| Arriving at Mt Fuji 5th Station |
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| Lots of people in the fog... |
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| A Map of the Area |
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| Sammy at Komitake Shrine |
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| It's Picture Time! |
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| Here is the Actual Shrine |
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| At the Courtyard |
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| Another Gate |
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| All Japanese Shrine has this! |
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| Giant Geta! |
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| Gogoen Resthouse |
My colleague preferred to stay in the warm hut for some lunch so I ventured out for a short walk to the Fujiyoshida climbing route station.
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| Let Start the Trekking! |
The route was quiet and I was happy that I finally saw SAKURA
for the 1st time in my life… Haha… dying Sakura but it was better
than nothing. There was also thick snow along the way which I did not expect
since it was summer. It was a nice walk and I reached the climbing station
safely. There were some people doing warm up to get ready for hiking so I was
the weirdo who only went there to take picture and looked around. =P
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| Oh dear.. it's foggy... but what are those pinky stuffs? |
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| OMG!!! It's SAKURA!!!! |
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| Spooky like in a horror movie |
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| Thick Snow |
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| Ice Cream on the Snow? |
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| A Panoramic View - nothing but FOG! |
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| At the Climbing Station |
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| Just a few small houses |
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| Climbers warming up! |
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| Me just taking picture.. =P |
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| The Toilet! |
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| Sammy is satisfied |
The road back to 5th Station main area was
tedious – I didn’t realize it when I walked to the climbing station that the
road was a bit downhill slope. So when I had to go back on the same way – I was
struggling and short of breath to go uphill! There was this elderly lady taking
same route with me and she actually fared better! *facepalm* But it was indeed
a refreshing albeit exhausted walk.
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| Going Uphill?! GOSH!! Wait for me!!! |
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| Let's go up to the Summit! Or not.. *sweat* |
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| Sun is coming out |
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| Thick Snow in Summer |
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| Goodbye Sakura |
The fog was clearing a bit at the time and I managed to
see the ‘base’ of Mt Fuji from the lodging house but had no fate to see the
full view. =( The window of opportunity was short and even the base was covered
by fog again in less than 10 minutes.
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| Finally! The Base! *facepalm* |
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| Sammy is eager to take a Picture! |
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| At least the Fog has cleared out at 5th Station |
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| Orange Drink after Trekking |
We took the 1.20pm bus to get to Kawaguchiko Station
again and managed to reach around 2.15pm. To our horror – it was raining quite
heavily! OH NOOOO!!!!!!!!!!! I was starving so I got myself a cheese pastry
from the station for lunch and it tasted yummy.
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| Cheese Pastry! YUMMY! |
Regardless of the rain, we continued on with the Retro
Bus to get to Cruise/Ropeway Bus Stop for our Kawaguchiko Pleasure Cruise
Ensoleille. It was still raining when our cruise departed from the port – the
view was indeed great but Mt Fuji was missing. The friendly senior ‘boatkeeper’
told us of the position of the Mt Fuji but it was hiding away in the cloud.
*Bawling*
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| Walking towards the Dock |
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| Where is our Cruise? |
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| Here it is!!! |
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| Sammy enjoys cruising... |
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| Why is it still raining? =( |
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| Crossing the Bridge |
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| A mini isle in the middle of the lake |
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| Where is Mt Fuji?! |
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| Hiding underneath the Thick Cloud! See the Base? |
After the cruise, we walked opposite the road to get to
Kachikachi-yama Ropeway station. The ropeway took us to the top which offered
breathtaking view of Lake Kawaguchiko area. There was a small path which led to
another shrine in 10minutes but we did not take it as it was muddy and looked
slippery after the rain.
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| Ropeway Station! |
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| There was hardly anyone there |
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| Stunning View from the Top! |
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| Lake Kawaguchiko from the Top |
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| Some Part is still Foggy though |
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| A Small Store at the Top |
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| Sammy & Shrine |
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| If you ring the bell and see Mt Fuji at the same time, you will get your wish comes true! BUT WHERE IS MT FUJI??!!! |
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| Another game on the top |
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| Cute Bunny! |
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| On a Clear Day, Mt Fuji is supposed to be right behind me in this picture! |
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| The Path to another Shrine |
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| Muddy & Slippery |
We basically sat down and enjoyed the view and bought the
local ‘dumpling’ from the shop to try out. Well, I must say I didn’t understand
the attraction of the dumpling. It tasted quite strange and yucky for me. It
was basically a flour ball covered in salty sauce. EEwww…..
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| Why the Cloud?! |
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| Lake Kawaguchiko - a Reflecting mirror |
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| Picture!!! |
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| If we can't see the mountain, we take more picture of the Lake! |
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| The 'Dumpling" |
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| This is NOT GOOD! |
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| Bye bye! |
Everyone was tired after the Ropeway so we basically just
walked around the area for some souvenir shopping before returning back to
Kawaguchiko Station to catch our 6.40pm bus back to Shinjuku. I would think the
best was to stay in the area for at least 2 days as there were simply too many
attractions in the area such as the bat cave, lava cave, healing village,
forest park and lots of museums. I think we kind of wasted our unlimited bus
ride ticket there. =(
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| Doggie in the Car |
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| A Garden? |
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| Nothing much there! |
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| Souvenir Shopping! |
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| This is SO CUTE! It can move and talk too! |
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| Imagine all the places we can go with the Q Coupon! |
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| Goodbye Kawaguchiko |
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| It's getting dark |
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| Bus Stopping temporarily at Fuji-Q Theme Park |
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| Waiting for Passengers |
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| Finally at Shinjuku |
We finally reached Kawasaki at around 9pm so I bought
myself the salty hardboiled egg from convenient store to go with my cup noodle.
The cup noodles consisted of deep fried tempura fritters with prawn along with
soba noodle – it was really delicious even though it could be too salty at the
bottom. I loved it so much until I bought one back to Penang. =P
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| Tempura Soba with Egg!!! LIKE LIKE LIKE!!!! |
Next Week (Weight Gaining & Last Night at Shibuya)
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