Got up super early, which was not a problem and set out to our meeting place with time to spare for getting lost. Again, Google not super accurate, but I made it with so much time to spare that I confused the tour guides there. Our tour guide, Junichi, was super organized. We had a map of our assigned seats on the bus, an itinerary, and a map of one of our stops all printed out for us. My seatmate was a Malaysian student from New Zealand named Natasha. She was very sweet and, I would discover, easily lulled to sleep by the moving bus.
Our first view of Mount Fuji. Junichi described her as "being shy" as the top was obscured by clouds all day. Spring is not the best season for viewing Fuji.
Our first stop, the ropeway
The view down
The tourist area is studded with lucky shrines and auspicous things.
A shrine...
View down to the lake
Another lovely view. Our guide finally gathered us up to take the trip down the mountain to Yamanashi for lunch.
This was lunch, a Hoto noodle set (vegetarian version) It was delicous and fun to have it cooked at your table.
It was at this point that I discovered a fellow tour-mate recently worked for Expedia. Danielle left the company not long ago and misses the discounts and travel benefits...LOL. Small world.
Next stop Arakura Sengen Shrine. This is the gate.
This is the shrine
detail at the shrine. It is either 400 steep steps to the pagoda above the shrine or a steep walk up a paved path. I opted for the path, which was not much better than the steps (but easier on the knees).
Kinda worth it though for the pagoda...
And cherry blossoms. These are not the cherry blossoms most come here too view, surprisingly. However, I am most familar with these as we had a tree in our yard growing up.
Purple flowers growing in a rock crevice and a small friend that I didn't even see until I was reviewing the photos I took later on.
We then drove the bus up Mt. Fuju to the 5th station. It was COLD and I was glad I brought my quilted jacket. A bit more of the peak was visible.
We then went to see cherry blossoms at Oshino Hakkai. We could see a teeny bit more of Mt. Fuji at this point of the day.
More scenic cherry blossoms
We then went to see the actual 8 pods of Oshino. The water there is melted snow from Mt. Fuji. It's incredibly clear and, apparently drinkable.
More of Oshino
Traditional buildings by the ponds.
Our guide then hurriedly herded us back to the bus to try to get us on the road to miss traffic. We had a 2 hour drive back that was so uneventful I actually snoozed a bit with Natasha. We got a flashlight keychain when disembarking from Junichi and went on our way. I was so tired when I got back to my room that I almost fell asleep while uploading photos.
Tomorrow (actually today...lol) is Disney Sea.
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