We took the bus from Shinjuku to Kawaguchiko in order to spend a few days at the foot of Mt Fuji. We did not plan to climb the mountain, but we thought that we would be able to see it at the very least.
Our hotel room was spacious and comfortable, especially after our cozy cabinet in Tokyo.
We arranged for the hotel shuttle to pick us up from the station. Little did we know, this would involve two international calls from my mobile in Japanese, one to let them know we were coming from Tokyo, and one to announce we had arrived at the station (just on time, like we said we would be). We were impressed with the overall efficiency of Japanese hotels, but wondered why they couldn't be slightly more flexible... Check in no earlier than 3 PM; call as many times as they required, with no apparent awareness on their part that it might be expensive and inconvenient for us. Still, the hotel was clean and comfortable so we couldn't complain much. And we were excited to have a view from our balcony of...
...the clouds.
We spent Tuesday afternoon exploring our part of the lake.
Lavender and vanilla ice cream
The mountain peeked out above the clouds for a few minutes just before sunset, giving us hope that we would have an unobstructed view the following day.
Wednesday morning, we rented bicycles and spent the day riding around the lake.
It was a lovely day, not too hot or cold, with blue sky - but no discernible mountain.
The beginnings of the koyo (changing leaves) season
Tempura soba and curry udon for lunch
On the morning of our departure, the mountain appeared one last time, briefly (by the time I got out of the shower, it was gone again.)
We read somewhere that Mt Fuji is 'notoriously shy' so we couldn't be too offended at its reluctance to be photographed. In the end, we had to leave it in the same category as the Northern Lights (which we missed in Iceland because it was just a little bit too warm) - a reason to go back again someday.
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