Mount Fuji
Trip Start
Mar 22, 2009
1
39
43
Trip End
May 03, 2009
Hakone,
Kanto,
Japan
Friday, May 1, 2009
Bus from Shinjuku to Kawaguchiko and I landed next to an overweight American for 2 hours. Japan is not easy for the big; he took up his seat and half of mine while still being unfortably crowded. He looks Guido and armed with an askew baseball cap, gold chain and camcorder. Just how stereotypical can you get without being ironic? I feared he'd be heading to teh same place I was and the force of gravity between Americans would mean we were doomed to have awkward conversation. Thankfully, he got off at Fuji Q Highland, a Six Flags type of amusement park at the base of the mountain. Figures he's not aiming to do any natura walking/cycling. Okay, that came out more liberal new age smug than I had intended.
The area has two main cities: Fuji-Yoshida and Kawaguchiko; both towns are meccas for Fuji tourism but the actual lakes at the base of Fuji, including Kawaguchiko by comparison are less developed. Kawaguchiko definitely still has tons of resorts and restaurants and lakeside promenades, but the western sections and of Lake Saiko (which offer no views of Fuji) are much less populated and make for nice cycling. I had intended to cycle around the lakes and get to a lookout for that most important view of Fuji, but little did I know there's a row of hills blocking out Fuji from site between the lake side road I was on. So for 2 hours of biking, not a single view of the moutain. This is not to say that the biking was bad--it was really realxing and teh lakes are picturesque with blue water and hills around. And it was mostly level, except for one steep climb up which I barely survived, quad strains and hairpins turns, you know.
So I was determined to see Fuji and was heading for Koyodai lookout, which turned out to no be connected to my bike route (ah, Lonely Planet, your maps are sometimes misleading). I tried to get there through a nature path, which was eerie as you are traversing uneven mossy rubble ducking under low tree branches, following a yellow disintegrating rope half buried under debris. I basically gave up that notion ten minutes in after stumbling and twisting my ankle multiple time. In the end, I had to double back and get to the highway and then find a hiking path up from there, which was a miracle becuase it was all in Japanese, I didn't have the Kanji for Koyodai and there was no English signage...at all. I'm still not quite sure how I found it; let's call it divine intervention.
Koyodai turned out to be a viewing platform that overlooked the opposite direction of Fuji...and I had to hiking up another 20 minutes to Sankodai peak to see Fuji. But it was totally worth it as there's a 360 panoramic viewing platform on top of the restaurant. Ironically enough, when you're up Fuji that close it loses the magical cone shape you see from pictures from the bullet train. It's still quite awesome, as it just gradually grows out of the ground (no wonder it's such popular a hike, it's all gently slopes for the most part).
After Fuji, my day's goals were essentially over so I relaxed and slowly bike around Saiko and Kawaguchiko lakes back to the hostel. Pleasant empty roads and hippie type of cafes and school camp grounds abound. Basically just sagged on a couch for the rest of night. Actually met a Dutch Chinese couple I had met a few weeks before in Kyoto and we continued a conversation we'd started three weeks before. It's funny how small sometimes the backpacking world can be. Anwyay, hoping for a good sleep and tomorrow it's back to Tokyo, where I have to get some shopping done and some sights. Then one more full day and then heading back. Can't say I'm super excited, but like I said before, I think I'm ready to get back to real life again.
-mike
