Friday April 4th - Will we see it?






 When I was 8 or 9 at Primary school, we had a lovely student teacher who taught a project about Japan with the class and I can well remember seeing my first ever picture of Mount Fuji and thinking I would love to visit there one day and see it in person. Over 60 years later that day as arrived and my first action when I wake up is to open the curtains on the picture windows to see if the mist has cleared and if our room does face the mountain.

We have struck lucky on both counts!


Fuji is the white shape behind the grey mountain.


These are all taken from our bedroom window and it's hard to tear ourselves away from the view to go and get dressed ready for breakfast, once there, we can see that the mist has cleared even more, revealing stunning lakeside views.



I have to point out that I haven't photoshopped the fishing boat into the picture, they were actually there!
We enjoy a delicious breakfast in the picture window fronted dining room, paying as much attention to the changing view as we do to our food before boarding the coach and travelling further up the windy hillside roads on he approach to Mount Fuji.
Our destination is a popular tourist village and World Heritage site on the northeastern foothills of the mountain Oshino Hakkai, famous for its eight spring fed ponds. It's the perfect spot for viewing the mountain and we are lucky that the weather is perfect for photos.





Fresh falls of snow in the last few days have cloaked the mountain in a bright new blanket, perfect for our photos, but sadly not good for the planned next stage of out trip, as we are told that no one is allowed to travel up to the 5th station on the mountain, only the 1st station, which our bus driver says is 'boring' so we spend an interesting hour in the nearby visitor centre where we can actually spot tiny figures climbing up the right side of Fuji! Our Japanese guide tells us how she climbed the 12,000 foot peak last year, during the warmer weather when there was not as much snow. As a skilled orienteerer and it took her all day, with the downwards part being much worse than going up as it took a heavy toll on her knees.
We continue our journey to Lake  Yamanakako   round to the other side of the mountain, an area which is considered to be the best for Fuji photos as the mountain is reflected in the water. Unfortunately, the clouds are beginning to build by now, but we can still take a photo that shows the size of the peak from its base.


We have another couple of hours travel after this, not surprisingly some take the chance to catch up on their sleep, however Japanese guide Hero (a former teacher) is keen to keep us busy, so passes round small sheets of coloured paper which she then uses to give us all an origami lesson. I  don't know how many of you have tried to do origami on a moving bus before, but trust me it's not easy!




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