MT FUJI to OKAYAMA – from early morning to late night

Friday – I am asleep – no – sound asleep when the alarm on my phone screams ‘it is 5am – get out of bed. You are going to photograph the sunrise!’ Holy Fuji – who’s idea was this?  I want to stay here under the covers not fuffle around in the dark and cold.  We are meeting in the lobby at 5.30am so I better get a move on.

Cameras and batteries, tripod, gloves, warm clothes and I am ready to go.  There are only 5 of us going – the rest remain asleep – easy to see who are the brightest members of the group – definitely not us.  It is pitch black outside and yet I am wandering around downstairs – WHY I ask myself.

It is time to leave and as we proceed into the darkness – it is bloody freezing.  Just as well I have my big coat and snow boots on.  This is not a good start and secretly I wish that I had stayed in my nice warm bed – but it’s too late to worry about that now.

RL has hired a car so we pile in – bit squeezy – and head off.

When we arrive at our spot – it is the same place that we did our ‘didn’t quite make it’ sunset photography – there are already photographers set up.  The car park is nearly full and as you can see we are not the only crazy ones – they have their tripods up and ready – so we have to find a spot in the middle of all of this mayhem.

Seems like everyone wants to stand in the same spot.  When the sun starts to come up our Mt Fuji is still covered in clouds and mist – so once again – no golden colours.  I will say that it is still bloody cold though.  I hope we are not going to stay here for hours waiting for the mists to lift!

As you can see, this does not stop me from clicking away – have to keep warm doing something that’s for sure.

All the other clickers are engaged in checking cameras or conversation or wandering up and down ready to pounce as soon as Fuji San appears.  Not me – I have found other interests – the colours of the trees behind us up the mountain and down the street – rich reds, golden yellows and every colour in between.

It is still misty but the colours are vibrant and can still be seen in all their splendour.

Waiting – waiting – waiting – a car pulls up and out pops a young lady with a group of dogs.  The car has its own doggy seat in the front and it is a shock to see all the little four footed friends dressed up in their cold weather clothes.  I have noticed some little dogs before that were dressed up but this group leads the way.

She then proceeds to get them all organised and take them for a walk across the road and down the hill to the edge of the lake. What a hoot.

The mist is lifting and the clouds are moving to uncover the blue skies – great excitement as everyone runs back to their cameras to get ready – – and away we go – –

Once the clouds and mist start to move it doesn’t take long – the mountain is not crystal clear but it still is amazing.

Our tummies are starting to rumble so after we have had enough we head back to the hotel for brekky.  We then checkout and leave our luggage at Kawaguchiko Station as we are heading for Okayama tonight.

Our next port of call is a visit to Iyashi no Sato – that turns out to be a charming village with wonderful views of Mt Fuji.

This traditional Japanese village was once a small farming community until it was destroyed by a typhoon in 1966. It has since been recreated and turned into an open air museum where you can admire thatched roof houses, learn about Japanese crafts and culture, and taste local foods.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

These restored houses are incredible – you can go inside – remembering to take off the shoes – but unfortunately there is no where to sit unless you want to sit on the floor – been there – done that – no fun.

The pathways are relatively easy to walk but then as you get further into the village the inclines get a bit more steep.  Still, it’s a nice relaxing walk – better when it’s time to go back down.

More exceptional views of Autumn colour and Mt Fuji – it is especially nice when there is a little breeze and the leaves fall from the trees – time to change camera settings.

The day is turning out hot – gee that’s a surprise.  Maybe one of these days if I travel in Autumn again – it will actually have an Autumn chill in the air!

Farewell to our pleasant little village – we wait in the car park for RL who is driving us to the  Aokigahara Forest – also known as Suicide Forest; now there’s a happy thought – NOT.

Called “the perfect place to die,” this forest has the unfortunate distinction of being the world’s third most popular place to die by suicide.

Since the 1950s, Japanese businessmen have wandered in, and at least 500 of them haven’t wandered out. Don’t worry, apparently before every tourist season the authorities do a walk through and ‘clear’ the forest so hopefully I will not meet any permanent residents

At this place there is also something called the Fugako Wind Cave – in the past, this cave was used as a natural storehouse and refrigerator, as the temperature inside stays at a relatively constant zero degrees Celsius throughout the year. The cave is furnished with a few shelves that store boxes of acorns and silkworm cocoons. It is the most easily walkable and least exciting of the three caves.

We have decided not to visit the cave as you also have to be as small as a hobbit.  Oh well, let’s go and explore the Forest – we hope the authorities have done their job and we don’t run into any inhabitants – I can hardly wait.

I am not sure why they use this place to off themselves.  It is lovely and green, rustling trees and an occasional bird – maybe it is because it is very calming, I could also say that it would give your spirits a lift but maybe that is not the best choice of words as apparently the spirits do lift – right up into the heavens.  OK – enough, I am getting a little bit crazy – time to go back to the little cafe, regroup and have some refreshment.

RL is taking us back to the station but before he does I spy this sign – another little bit of Japanese mirth as we leave this rather interesting place.  How polite are these people?

On arriving back at the station it is time to get some lunch.

Across the road there is a little cafe called Hirai Kiosk.  It is reached by climbing a set of stairs – which is not easy as we have our overnight bags with us – but no matter – everyone is thinking of food.

What a quaint little place – looks really fifties with the decor – but there are loads of wonderful pink orchids everywhere.

 

 

 

This is my lunch – Karaage Chicken – which is definitely better than KFC.  It is so crispy outside and mouth watering tender on the inside.  Delicious! Once we have finished we make our way downstairs to pay and then head for our next transport – the bus back to Tokyo and then continue by train to Shin-Osaka and then finally to Okayama.  This has been a long day and it is starting to take its toll.

The trains here are incredible.  This is our train for the first leg of the journey from Tokyo to Shin-Osaka.  It is the Hikai Superexpress.  Of course the minute I get seated out comes the camera and my movie tells me that we will stop at Hamatsu, Nagoya, Gifu-Hasima, Maibara, Kyoto and then finally Shin-Osaka.

This will take about an hour and then we get aboard another train from Shin-Osaka to Okayama. Sorry, no photos of that one.  Riding in these trains is incredible.  So smooth and so fast.  Once we get to Okayama we head for the hotel – Okayama Koraku Hotel. where we will stay for 2 nights.

I haven’t mentioned the bathrooms so far – but they definitely need to be brought to your attention.  My room is small but comfortable – and this is the bathroom.  You will notice a lot of lights and buttons on the loo.  Time for some toilet humour – –

There is a button for just about everything.

But before you get to press the buttons – the minute you sit down you get serenaded by little fairy bells or chimes or birds chirping. Yep, there’s a button to choose whatever you want.

Ok – more about the buttons – full or half flush – washing buttons for your private areas – buttons for music – and a button if you don’t want the seat heated. Took me ages when I first arrived in Japan to work everything out and every loo seems to be different.

Tomorrow we visit Hiroshima –