7D6N Tokyo - Oct 2010

Day 5: Fuji

This is the day that I have been looking forward to. I wanted to get as close as I can to Mount Fuji but I didn't want to climb it. I am not interested in climbing anyway. I just want to go for a short hike around Mt. Fuji to enjoy the scenic area. So days before my trip, I began looking for hiking trips offered in Tokyo.

There are actually several companies that offer day hiking trips at Mt. Fuji. They cover different areas around Mt. Fuji and prices are different.

If you are staying at K's House Hostel at Mt. Fuji area, they do offer Mt. Fuji walking tour. Or if you are not staying there but just want to join them for the walk. just email them. They do take in walk-ins.

http://mtfujitour.com/

Another option is to hire a guide like what I did. JGA Walking Tours in Japan offers numerous walking tours including Fuji area.

http://www.jga-walkingtours.jp/

My guide has helped me to make the bus ticket reservation and on this morning, all I have to do is to go to the Express Bus Terminal counter and collect my ticket for the bus to Kawaguchiko. Make sure you reach there earlier as you still need to join the queue to collect your bus ticket.

The Keio Express Bus Terminal to Kawaguchiko is located at Shinjuku. At Shinjuku station, follow the direction to the West Exit and then just continue with the direction to the Shinjuku Expressway Bus Terminal. There are several staircase exit that leads to the Bus Terminal and of them is Exit 6. Once you are out from Exit 6 or 8, you will see the Yodobashi Camera shop and also the signboard that says "50 Expressway Bus Terminal". The Keio Bus Terminal is here. Yu won't missed it.

I collected my ticket by giving my guide's name and contact number. The one way ticket to Kawaguchiko Station is 1700 Yen. After that I was directed to wait outside for the bus. The weather forecast reported that it would rain today and even though I already know that the forecast is very accurate by now, I was secretly hoping that it would be wrong. Well, even if it is cloudy without the blue sky, I would still be very happy. The journey to Kawaguchiko is about 2 hours. Half way through my journey to Kawaguchiko, it started drizzling and it rained all the way there and throughout the whole day! I was utterly disappointed.

This is Kawaguchiko Station and the Keio Expressbus will stop outside the Station. For the return journey, it is the same. Just board the bus from the same place but first you need to get your return ticket from the office inside the Station.

This is the interior of the Station. It has a souvenir shop, a small cafe, a ticketing office and a small tourist information office.

This is my guide, Ms. Akiko. After corresponding with her for a few weeks, I finally met up with her. I was already expecting her to tell me that the hike has to be cancelled and yes, it was indeed cancelled. There was no way that we could go hiking at the mountain in such a weather.


Ms. Akiko speaks very good English and is a very nice lady. She is very patient in answering all my questions during my correspondence with her. She even provides me updates on the weather at Fuji and helps me to make all the necessary arrangements to reach Kawaguchiko.


Since the hike was cancelled, Ms. Akiko gave me an option to take the Kwaguchiko hop on hop off bus to visit the area. The day pass is for 1000 Yen and for unlimited rides. She explained to me the routes, the places that may interest me and even wrote down the names of the places in English and Japanese for me so that it is easier for me to show the driver if I need to. When I board the bus, she also told the bus driver where I wanted to go for my first stop. How nice of her.

This is the bus that I took for the Kawaguchiko sight-seeing in replacement of my hike.

My first stop was the cruise and ropeway at Lake Kawaguchiko. Well, it was still drizzling heavily and I didn't want to waste my money for the cruise and ropeway as I wouldn't be able to see much and enjoy the ride so I just walked around the area. There isn't really much to see here.

This is Lake Kawaguchiko. Leaves were only starting to change colours.

Next, I continued with the next bus to the Kawaguchiko Music Forest. This is a small museum to showcast automatic musical instruments. The hall has displays of antique music boxes, mechanical organs and other musical instruments and there is a nice garden outside. I was here for only a short while as I found it so difficult to sight-see with my umbrella. Moreover I was getting wet and my bag was wet too. I decided to take the next bus back to Kawaguchiko Station and buy my ticket back to Tokyo.

This is what you are supposed to see at the Musical Box Museum garden if the weather is good. Mt. Fuji at the backdrop is really impressive.

I didn't know how to describe my dissapointment with the weather but I do know that in future I would avoid the month of October if I ever think of visiting Japan again. The weather for next day? Sunny and partly cloudy. Yahoooo!!!