Mount Fuji in the rain, then snow, then finally visable!

March 1st

Its raining again, and I`m hung over!

Just arrived at Fumoto-no-ie. This place is amazing I`m on my own in this large dorm room in what can only be called a shed! I am currently listening to a very old eagles tape waiting for my water to boil for my noodles and tea. The hostel is run by this ancient couple who were very friendly and helpful. The old man came to pick me up and even took me to a supermarket as this accomodation is self catering only. I had to buy some earl grey tea as needed the goodness of a propa cuppa.

March 2nd

Allowed myself a lie in today as I did`t end up getting a whole lot of sleep in Tokyo. The problem was the heat of the room, it was just too hot, but now it is too cold, I swear this is literally like sleeping in someone`s shed.

In addition the bed is basically a reed mat so it isn`t exactly cosy. I think I`m gonna need to toughen up a bit, I`ve obviously had it too easy so far.

Went into Fuji town to have a look around and try to locate a tourest info and an internet cafe. I eventually tracked down the tourest info after waiting for a bus for half an hour that then took me in a four minute trip to my stop. Haven spoken to two very kind ladies who informed me that they had no information on mount fuji, but loads on the town of fuji, they then pointed me to an internet cafe. After the previous shambles with the buses, I decided to walk it. An hour later I arrive to find out that it is members only and is gonna end up costing me a fiver for half an hour.

The whole day, the mountain has been covered by cloud so I haven`t even seen that yet, I`m gonna head back and have a cuppa before I loose it and throw a hissy fit!

Not all bad.

Just got back and I discovered a pretty good book, I`m gonna cuddle up, put the heater on and drink my tea whilst reading my book. Get in!

March 3rd

Decided to take a bus that was reccomended to me by the tourest info place, it basically takes you around to the other side of the mountain, to the lakes. Unfortunately, there is only one bus a day, so I was up at seven and starting my mission early. Amazingly as I emerged from my shed, I gazed in wonder at a clear blue sky, swiftly scanning the horizon my eyes rested on probably the most famous view in Japan. There with only a few wisps of cloud was the majesty of Fuji. Awesome

Then the clouds rolled in again and for the rest of the day fuji was hidden. Bugger!

The bus took me to lake kawaguchiko which is the largest of the five lakes.

There was a small cable cart which was running people to the top of one of the surrounding foothills of mount fuji, so dipping deep into my pokets I paid the 2 quid and went up. The view from the top was stunning, despite the big cloudy blurry thing dominating the horizon. There was a viewing point at the top and dissapearing from this there was a path that seemed to be running along the top of this mini mountain. Feeling adventurous I decided to see where this trail led me. Basically I just had a wonder through a wood on top of a very large hill. Quality!

After that the day kinda went down hill, there wasn`t really much else to do as lots of things were closed cos it wasn`t tourest season. There was only one bus back and that was still about 3 hours away so I went for a coffee to eat up some time.

Whilst drinking this coffee it started to snow. I managed to eak the coffee drinking time out to about an hour, which I was pretty impressed with. So with my coffee drunk, I headed off towards the station and bus stop, to my delight there was a large heater in the station with a few benches surrounding it. I sat down and settled myself for the two hour wait, at this point I was so cold that the thought of going for an explore in the snow, which would have been beautiful otherwise, was pretty far from my mind. After about 10 minutes of sitting there I was joined by 10 giggling Japanese girls. So basically I spent the rest of my wait huddled up with 10 Japanese girls, who were all pretty stunning by the way.

All in all I didn`t think the day turned out too bad! :)