Lake Kawaguchiko

Today we moved along from Hakone to Kawaguchiko.  Kawaguchiko is part of the 5 lake region of Japan.  Heather started out about 1.5 hours before us this morning as she wanted to use the train that we did the day before as part of her travels, we were just going to do the bus.  We attempted to meet up at one of our 3 transfers but she just missed us, so she was about 1 hour behind us to where we would catch our final bus in Gotemba Premium Outlets. I knew we were switching busses at an outlet place, but I had no idea it would be like Merrimack Mall in New Hampshire, this place was huge.  We found the food court and each had some Udon noodles.   Heather made it to the mall while we were eating and was able to join us for a quick lunch before catching the bus.

An easy slightly more than 1 hour bus ride to Kawaguchiko on a very nice bus.  Arrive at the tourist information and get a couple of maps, very busy but again so helpful.  Heather is staying in a hostel here and we are in a hotel, the 2 are just over 1 KM apart.  Heather hasn't got internet connection sorted yet so she is relying on free wifi at her hostel.  We check in and have to wait a few minutes as they are quite strict about 3PM check in time.  There are a couple more people waiting in the lobby, but it is a nice lobby and free coffee and tea all day and night.  We also find out that from 3-5 we have free beer and snacks, I know where we will be shortly.

Connect with Heather and she is going to walk to our place and we are going to try to find a view of Mt Fuji.  It is not very clear out, we had no view on the bus ride of the illusive mountain.  We have a quick snack and drink then meet Heather at the bottom of our steep driveway up to our hotel.  We decide to walk part way around the lake to a bridge and cross over.  It is a nice walk though very cold, sure hope it starts to warm up soon!  

Back to the train station to find out about day passes to use the local buses.  While we are there we also purchase the first part of our next stop which is Kyoto.  Really helpful man that shows us exactly what we need to do, so that is sorted.

A bunch of photographers are lined up outside Lawson with a bit of Mt Fuji peeking out.  We have seen this spot many times in pictures, and I know we will be back here again.

Off to 7/11 and pick up some things for supper.  Heather heads off to her place and we are back at our hotel now making plans for tomorrow.

19,170 steps / 12.2kms

Next to the bus station

Very calm water this morning.

Another example of why we are not going to drive in Japan

Our first bus

There must be a story here

time to kill at the outlet before our last bus, no purchases besides lunch

Honey, can I get 20 small tubs of Ice Cream. We get a good price and a free cooler bag

At the food court. I guess they have large deer or something similar

1 tub is better than none. Macha top with dark chocolate. Delicious

Glamping in Japan

First view of Mt Fuji

Maybe or maybe not

At the bus/train station

Our view from the room

Self serve beer or lemon sour drink

On our walk around the lake, a small shrime

Manhole cover with Mt Fuji

challeging steps

Made from lava rocks. too many trees for views

View from the bridge

Batting cage, baseball is the #1 sport

Interesting again

A tiny glimpse of Mt Fuji

Mt Fuji, Much better an hour later. The most photograph convenience store

At the train/bus station, Mt Fuji in the background