Saturday, April 22, 2017 – Mt Fuji base tour

Was up for an early morning start to catch the 8 am bus tour to visit sites at the base of Mt Fuji. It was a bit overcast, however, there were sunny breaks, so the pictures showing Mt Fuji was not possible.

The bus tour was packed with a mixture of multi-cultural countries represented. The bus tour consisted of 4 stops of places with wonderful views of Mt Fuji.

The first stop was the Arakura Sengen Shrine. Since it was a Saturday and the cherry blossoms we’re in full bloom, needless to say there were lots of people visiting the site, which has a beautiful view of Mt Fuji.

Then we traveled to Lake Kawaguchi, where there were so many beautiful cherry blossom trees in bloom. It was still a bit cloudy so couldn’t see all of Mt Fuji (only a part) with the clouds during the boat cruise on the lake.

We then went by bus to the Mt Fuji Shibazakura Festival, where there are thousands of flowering phloxes. It was a bit early for them to be in full bloom and Fuji was hidden by the clouds. It was interesting watching some of the street performers.

Had lunch at the festival, which was udon noodles and a Mt Fuji fish type of food on the top, along with some inori and Royal milk tea, of course (my favorites).

The final stop was at an old reconstructed Japanese village called Saiko Iyashi No Sato Nenba. It was sad to read in 1966 the village was destroyed by a typhoon and mud slide. The best I could tell by the pictures is many lost their lives. The village was recreated with the straw roofs, probably in honor of those who lost their life in the mud slide.

Tomorrow, is my last full day in Japan, where I will do my shopping spree. Since I am travelling light, I didn’t want to carry stuff around. So I will do my mad dash to shop in Ueno and get a box to pack stuff in and check it in as as my luggage.

Enjoy my stay, as usual. It is a bit sad that it will be over soon. Another milestone of my life’s adventure.