Mount Fuji

At some point it was inevitable that something would go wrong and after nearly 10 months on the road we finally missed our first bus.  The irritating thing was that having spent all day sheltering from a storm in the architecturally mind blowing Umeda City Train Station (14 floors and more shops that I have ever seen, and ever wanted to see) we managed to get lost on the supposedly five minute walk to the bus station.  Attempting my best impression of Victor Meldrew and with all the charm of Donald Trump I rampaged through the station scaring off all of the quiet, reserved Japanese commuters (suddenly nobody spoke English) as I ran around in circles swearing at the top of my voice and going an ever deeper shade of red than normal.  I will never work for the UN Diplomatic Core.  We finally admitted defeat as the clock struck 10.15pm and so we began the search for accommodation, heading back to our first haunt in Japan at the capsule hotel.  Discovering an even cheaper alternative we ended up next door renting a smelly, empty box with nothing in except a futon mattress on the floor.  On the plus side of our expensive mistake we at least got to catch a Japanese bullet train the next day and we headed north towards Mount Fuji at 320km/hr, quickly making up for lost time.

The shower room

Minimalist Decor

Around the lakes of Mount Fuji

Mount Fuji is surrounded by five lakes and we had decided to stay at Kawaguchiko, the more developed of the towns that sit under the gaze of Fuji.  Arriving we had no idea quite how close we were as a thick layer of cloud hung over the town but waking up the following morning it turned out that we were sleeping right next to it as the iconic, symmetrical cone filled the window of our hostel.  Our hostel (which was combined with a recording studio!) turned out to be in a traditional Japanese style with our room being huge and empty and the washing facilities being a shared line of showers and giant hot bath. This time I quickly got over the public display of nudity and realised the benefits of having a 40 degree plunge pool in the shower room after our long walks around the surrounding area. Although Fuji is still classed as an active volcano (it last erupted in 1707) you can still climb up to the summit, some 3776m above sea level but we had arrived a few weeks before ascents for the year are permitted - Hannah was distraught (not)!  We were still able to enjoy walking around Kawaguchiko and Saiko lakes which look a lot like the Scottish Highlands until you suddenly look around and Mount Fuji appears in your view.  It is a majestic sight as it sits almost regally above the ]surrounding area and I was delighted to see that Fuji Film disposable cameras (the good old days) are readily available to capture the image.