Racing Against the Clouds!--Mt. Fuji/Hakone through Sunrise Tour Experience

Okay...you may think this is odd, but I'd like to begin this blog with our with how our day began.  Because we had to be at the Hamamasutcho bus station at nine AM and I was trying to play it safe, we skipped breakfast at the Sawaynoya ryokan and headed out to the metro by 7:30 AM.  You might be thinking that for me, this is real early--especially given the fact that I'm on vacation!

Well, you would be correct, except these days in Japan, I had been waking up by five AM and have been unable to go back to sleep.  So, go figure.

Anyway, you will then next find it odd that my first picture in this blog is of this:

The non-western toilet.  Please aim properly.

I know what you're going to say.  Rebecca, really?  More toilets?

I just wanted to share to anyone out there who may travel to Japan.  This is considered the non-western toilet.  If you think my previous toilet post was super fancy with all the buttons, this is as basic as you get in Japan and I encountered it at the metro station.  Fortunately, squatting is not an issue for me.  The hardest part of it all was figuring out which way to face.  And yeah, I do believe the bumpy side when you go about your business.

But enough of that.  We took the metro and then the JR line to arrive at the Hamamasutcho bus station. I'm not gonna say that we found the bus terminal directly because the fact of the matter is...we got a bit lost.  Luckily, I knew how to say, Sumimasen.  Eigo wo hanase masu ka? (Excuse me, but do you speak English?)  And luckily, some nice man was kind enough to point me back to where James and I came from so we can find the bus terminal.  But hey, here is a picture of a pretty garden we saw while getting lost:

Kyu Shiba-rikyu Gardens

Okay, I admit, technically, finding the bus terminal was NOT hard.  There were signs all over the place if you would just look.  It's just that...we didn't...and when we followed the map we had, I think we missed a turn somewhere....

Anyway, we did reach the bus station in time--early enough, in fact to grab some breakfast before we boarded :)

Once we did board, our tour guide introduced himself as Tadashi-san and the driver as Tanaka-san.  I never heard Tanaka-san say a single word in the trip, but Tadashi-san was quite the talker--a requirement I think for a tour guide.  Further more, Tadashi-san's topics weren't quite what I would have expected.

I guess I should mention what I did expect, and that was to hear some history, some background on the places that we pass by on our way to Mt. Fuji and Hakone.  What I did not expect was a lot of politics.  Some were sad, some were funny.  But, I felt, some were out of place.  Having said that, at least it didn't detract from the experience...much.

Okay, first things first.  On the ride to our first stop, the Fuji visitor station, Tadashi-san mentioned that we were a little late in leaving (I blame the latecomers!) and that the weather indicated that clouds will be obscuring our Mt. Fuji  picture opportunity if we didn't hurry up.  Hence, he will be giving us a strict schedule for all our stops/bathroom breaks.

On our first stop, the Fuji visitor center, James and I hurried to get our bathroom breaks done as well as some picture taking opportunity:

Unfortunately, some people were not quite as considerate.  And we were held up at the visitor center for a little bit, while Tadashi-san looked for our wayward strays.

Our next stop is the Fuji fourth station.  We were told that usually, it is the fifth station that is visited for this tour, but the fifth station was closed during winter due to the thick ice that covered the roads.  It was on the drive here that Tadashi-san really watched his clock as he was very hopeful of getting a clear view of Mt. Fuji for our picture taking opportunity.  Lucky for me and James, we were seated very nearly in front of the bus...and he was able to take these photos...

And just to show how fast the clouds moved, here are two photos that were taken ten seconds from each other:

Again, we were real lucky to get those shots from our prime location (as indicated by Tadashi-san).  I don't know if the people who sat behind us at the bus were able to take Fuji-sama's pictures the way James was able to.

"Oh yeah, I took those photos!  Who's the man now?"

Lunch after Fuji-sama was at a quiet little hotel called Regina Kawaguchiko.  Here is a picture of their lobby:

They have a restaurant upstairs, which is where lunch was served.  For this tour, the food and water were included, but if you wanted to drink something else, you had to pay.  Lunch was in a bento box, followed by some sherbert:

After lunch, we prepared for an over hour long drive to Hakone.  During which time, our tour guide decided to teach us some origami.  Here is Mt. Fuji.

And here is Mt. Fuji erupting:

James's Mt. Fuji was better folded than mine was so it was only his that I posted :)

Our first stop in Hakone was a guided boat tour in a catamaran.  But before that, we were able to hang outside in the cold and watch the koi.

These koi were HUGE.  I would say as long as James's forearm and as thick as his thigh.

Honestly, the boat ride was sort of uneventful, but it was a nice change of scenery for us.

Yeah, I'm still cold.

The boat to us to a place called Hakone-En and from there, we were able to do a little shopping and picture taking.

Because pandas are a good transportation vehicle?

Pikachu loves me.

A creepy toy from James's childhood, he claims.

This place also lead to a ropeway tour where our group were all crammed into a small cable car.  Again to take us up for another picture taking opportunity.

At the end of the ropeway was a summit where people were given some time to look at the beautiful views of Japan's coast line as well as a temple--which we didn't have time to go to :(

And thus ends our guided tour.  The tour bus then dropped us off at a bus stop to be picked up by our hotel shuttle to the Yunohana Onsen.