Journey to Mt Fuji

More rain! Today we are traveling to the Fuji Five Lakes area and hoping to catch a glimpse of the mountain! We start with what is supposed to be a very scenic train ride through the mountains. The river we're following is a gorgeous teal color but we don't have much visibility beyond that and photos through the raindrop covered windows doesn't work so well. After several hours and transfers, we reach Fujinomiya. This is the point where we need to transfer to a bus, but we have a couple hours to explore and try the local noodle specialty. The noodles are delicious and Keanan eats all the large squid chunks that I picked out of mine.

Next up is the Mt Fuji World Heritage Center, a relatively new museum dedicated to the volcano's seismology, history and cultural significance. The building itself is really cool - an inverted cone that reflects and mimics the shape of Mt Fuji. Once inside, you climb a spiral ramp to an observation deck with has an incredible view of the mountain in clear skies. We're just gonna have to take their word for it haha. Our favorite exhibit was the one on the most recent eruption and outlined the shocking amount of volcanic debris that fell over such a wide area in such a short amount of time. Overall this was a really cool museum and a worthwhile stop on a rainy day.

We then hopped on a bus to Kawaguchiko. Neither of us have been a fan of the busses - in many cases they come very infrequently and we're never quite sure we're on the right one. The one we caught this time was the last of the day (at 2pm) and was thankfully the correct bus. Once in Kawaguchiko, we took another bus to our hostel on the north shore of the lake. Tonight we have pods in a hostel dorm room, which we're both a little apprehensive about. There's also apparently no places to eat here after 5 so we just order something at our hostel bar and cozy up in my pod to watch some TV. I set my alarm for sunrise, hoping the forecast will change and the mountain will make an appearance in the morning!Read more