Mt. Fuji

Setting off at far too early in the morning, I took a bus tour over to the area around Mt. Fuji. I hadn't much hope as apparently clear views can be quite rare (with the summit being visible around 20% of the time) and it was forcast as cloudy for the day.

After a couple of hours of travel our first stop was the 5th Station, the highest point of Fuji accessible by car, at an altitude of around 2300m. Fortunately the weather was a lot clearer than forecast and we had stunning views all the way to the top, as well as of the surrounding areas.

We made a brief stop for lunch at a restaurant just outside the Fuji-Q amusement park, which was heartbreaking as it was full of giant rollercoasters that I didn't have time to ride.

Our last stop was Lake Kawaguchi, adjacent to Fuji this offered some of the best views of the volcano. We had a short boat ride across the lake which allowed for amazing unobstructed views - at this point a few clouds had rolled in but the summit was still clearly visible.

Finally I took a ride up a ropeway to an observation deck near the top of the hill next to the lake. The area was crowded, but I headed further up to the top of the hill, past the "beware of the bears signs" to a small Shinto shrine. This was much more peaceful, with the calm only being broken by the occasional scream heard from the theme park below.Read more