Twice Lucky - Mount Fuji Sighting, WTRD 21, September 24, 2017

The ground shook beneath our feet as we ate breakfast this morning.  It took us a few seconds to realize there was an earthquake as the wooden house we are staying in creaked like a sailboat tossed in the waves.  Our realization evaporated in seconds when all was quiet again.  We turned on the tv. Nothing but golf, soccer, and Judy Woodruff on PBS Newshour with voice over in Japanese.  The Internet said that there are so many earthquakes in Japan, that unless it a magnitude 5 or over they pay no attention to it.  So we guess this one was under five.

We rolled out the door by 9:00 this morning as we had a a distance to go.  We weaved in and out of heavy Sunday traffic on narrow roads, glad to be following in the wake of a big bus.

Pampas grass grows everywhere here, so why this man in a pink shirt was choosing to risk his life on the side of this skinny road cutting pieces was beyond us.

The bus is not pulled over, it is driving this close to the shoulder.

Sunday motorcyclists were also out in in force.  Some of them trying to slip around us on the shoulder.  I think they must have a death wish.

Our plan today was to drive around the back of Mount Fuji to the Five Lakes Area.  We made it to lakes 1 and 2.  The first lake was Yamanakako.  The sun came out long enough for a quick photo of the brightly colored paddle boats floating on the brown waters of this lake.

 As I stood on the dock taking photos there was some thrashing going on at water level by my feet.  EEEgads!  Big wide mouth carp were swimming around looking for a handout.  I think this would not be a place I would want to go swimming.

Our second lake was Kawaguchiko.  We stopped in one park to turn around and get our bearings.  I photographed a man walking his dog with paralyzed back legs and a wheeled apparatus to support the hind legs and let the dog pretend it was walking.

Turned out we saw two other dog walkers during the day with dogs who had paralyzed back legs. One man was walking bent over, pulling up on his dog's tail, and another lady had a harness around her dog's middle that she could pull up to assist the dog's back legs.  I don't know that I usually pay much attention to dog walkers unless they are conducting their business on our lawn, but today was unusual in that there seemed to be so many dogs with back leg paralysis.

Parking at lake Kawaguchiko was difficult, and we found ourselves a little ways out of town to park the car, find a nearby geocache, and have lunch.  The neighborhoold park was a busy place.  We ate lunch and shared a table with a lady intently watching all of the fishing boats on the water.  Turns out there was some sort of fishing derby happening.  As soon as all the boats came in at 12:50, she packed it up and went to the water's edge to meet some fishermen, who were rushing their fish and paperwork up the hill to the finish line.

We did find a geocache and photographed our visiting travel bugs.

The log inside the cache was soaking wet from an earlier rain.  As the sun was out and we were enjoying the day, we decided to let the log dry out on the picnic table while we ate our lunch.  Three young women near the picnic table were having fun practicing a dance of some sort.  We watched with amusement, packed up our lunch stuff, and noticed that one of the three was taking pictures of the other two.  Russ asked if they would like to have all of their photos together and offered to take the photo.

They were excited.  I asked if they would actually like us to take a video of the dance they were practicing and they were both shy and excited.  Russ took the video and I played the music on the their smart phone.  It was really cute.  When they were done, I asked if I could also video their dance. By this time they were very excited....we told them we were Hollywood movie producers....haha....just kidding.


Anyway, we all had a good time.

Turns out the ladies are in a wedding party next month and are just getting their groove on before the wedding.  All college graduates, two worked in offices, and one was a middle school special education teacher.  The middle school teacher spoke the best English, but we all communicated happily with one another.

From here, we walked into town to find the museum.  We found it...it was a little store front with one nice man, one Shinto statue and some interesting branding irons that hikers up Mount Fuji can burn into their walking sticks.

Each branding iron is specific to a station of a certain elevation.  We asked the man who spoke very little English where Mt. Fuji was.  He walked us out the door and pointed in a direction into thick clouds. Not promising!

From here we walked another couple of blocks up to the Kachi Kachi Yama Ropeway...a tram,that pulled us up a very tall mountain.

Roller Coaster Theme Park in the City Below

The promise was a great view of the lakes and maybe a good view of Mt. Fuji.  Like yesterday, we weren't too optimistic about seeing the mountain.  

Dark rain clouds were gathering around us and the mountain was socked it.  And just like yesterday, we got to the top of the mountain and the clouds started to move away from Fuji's face long enough for some photos.

A little perspective of how Fuji looms over the valley.

For about a half hour the clouds separated long enough for some photos and then closed back in to shroud the mountain.   We would love to come back in the Spring with cherry blossoms and blue skies.

We met both a Swiss woman and a Thai woman who spoke some English.  We struck up conversations, offered to take their photos and they reciprocated.

Swiss Photographer

Thai Photogapher

So much better than selfies!

There was a Shinto shrine at the first lookout platform.  The Shinto religion believes that god is everywhere in the trees, stones, rocks, rivers.  Their shrines are very simple, usually a distinctive red gate.

Two statuary animals, real land mythical, protect the entrance of the shrine.  This particular shrine was protected by a rabbit (signifying luck and fertility), and one other creature (not sure what it was, maybe another rabbit with its paws over its head) guarded the shrine.  Little children and adults like to touch and pet the rabbit for good luck.

It was close to three o'clock by the time we tried the Mt. Fuji dumpling on a stick

and left Lake Kawaguchiko for home.  We stopped to pick up some dinner to go and got back to the house after dark.  If we thought the narrow roads were a challenge during the day, they were terrifying at night.

We got back, ate our dinner, watched some news on the internet, worked up the blog, and tonight is the night we are soaking in the big wooden tub in the bathroom.  First we wash down and clean our bodies, then we soak in the tub.  Grabbing my towel!  This looks fantastic.....

Oyasumi

and it was!

All is well with the Worrall Travel Rs in Hakone, leaving tomorrow morning for Hiroshima

Where's Mount Fuji? WTRD 20, September 23, 2017

It rained all last night, and when we awoke there was a soft glow in the room and it was quiet in our traditional Japanese wooden house.

Yes, we slept on double foutons.  Warm, but perhaps a lot firmer than we are used to.

 Just maybe the sun would come out today after all, and maybe we get good a glimpse of Mt. Fuji.

I love the mornings when we are not on an organized tour..no timetable except our own.  We got up, opened the rice paper doors to the outside and soaked in all the shades of green of a late summer, early fall day while we ate our breakfast,

View out our window

got dressed, packed a picnic lunch of crackers, cheese, chicken, apples, and chocolate, and took off in our littlle red car.

Our plan for the day was really simple, to visit Lake Ashi and see if we could glimpse Mt Fuji.  We only had to drive about 15 minutes to the Onshi-Hakone Park in Kanagawa Prefecture.  From our research, this would be the best place to see Mount Fuji.  The park is the restored sight of the Hakone Sekisho checkpoint (immigration control) from Kyoto to Tokyo, and the Imperial Summer Palace.

The Sekisho check point started in the early 700's, but became coordinated and systematic in the 1600's and lasted until 1869.

Much like the TSA, men and women passed through the security gates on their way into Tokyo. Their identities were scrutinized, hats off, coats examined for weapons and other contraband.  The checkpoint was manned by foot soldiers and administrative staff who lived in the buildings.

On the way out of Tokyo, then Edo, women were highly scrutinized.  The Shoguns typically held the wives of their noblemen hostage while the nobles an their retinue were in town to make sure that they did not overthrow the Shoguns and did their bidding without question.

We walk through the museum and the outdoor check point exhibit, frequently looking towards the cloud shrouded mountains across Lake Ashi for any sign of Mt. Fuji.

We see tourist boats and fishing boats, and lots of clouds. We aren't even sure we are looking in the right direction.  It could be straight ahead, to the left, to the right. Or perhaps it is just a myth.

This park also is the site of the imperial summer palace built in western colonial style in the late 1800's.

The view from the palace of Mt Fuji, if one can see Mt. Fuji, is supposed to be the best on the lake. We climb the hill through the Avenue of Cedars, first planted in 1619.

the sun pokes out occasionally, but still no sign of Fuji.

Inside the imperial palace today, there is a tea room with a balcony.

 We debate whether it is worth going upstairs. The mountain from our ground level viewpoint is socked in with clouds.  What the heck, we are here.

We climb the stairs, and step out on the balcony where we still cannot see the mountain, and then as if by magic, the clouds begin to evaporate from the top of the mountain.  Wow!

Mt. Fuji as we saw it today is not the iconic snow-capped Fuji we've seen on post cards.  It is fall after a warm summer.  The snow is gone, but the volcano is still there, sometimes peaking out from behind the clouds or showing more of its glory as the clouds mist away and then in again.   We feel lucky to have seen it.

We eat our picnic lunch and leave the park and drive along the lake.

Hakone Shrine

 Mt Ashi is about the same latitude aa Portland, Oregon.  It is misty, wet, lush, and green.  The vegetation and trees seem to reach out and grab at us as we drive along the road.

What we thought would be scenic wasn't.  Too many trees and relatively no pull out vistas.  By this time it is nearly 4:00, we stop to replenish our groceries and pickup something for dinner and head back to our retreat house, but not before we stop by to look at the neighborhood golf course...not public, but a private club with two 18 hole courses.  Green fees for 18 holes are $241.00 per person.  Oh well, we were too tired to play 18 anyway. Fun to look at.

Because we are in a geothermal, volcanic area, their are many hot springs available, one directly across from the  golf course.

We head home for noodle soup, wontons, salad, and wine.  Tomorrow we drive to the five lakes area on the western side of Mt. Fuji, and if we are lucky we may see more of the mountain.

All is well with the Worrall Travel R's in Hakone, Japan.