128: Low on Cash
April 13th, 2006Bother – had a close call of running out of money a few days ago. It was a real struggle to get cash and required the use of some of my emergency money in the end…
126: Nagoya, Hiroshima & Unzen’s Steamy Wonders
April 8th, 2006I left Nagoya yesterday and went straight to Unzen thanks to the miraculous Japanese Rail & Bus system. The town is small and the smelliest place ever due to the sulphur rich hot steams coming through every crack in the ground.. Water bubbles through the ground and some mini geysier is right in town.
125: Going South (I think)
April 6th, 2006OK – dont have much time (not even read emails properly) cos I need to do some prep for tomorrow but just say that I am likely to extend my stay in Japan by a few days to a week.
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124: Takayama Sidetrip
April 6th, 2006I just came back from Takayama and am in Nagoya now. Initially I wanted to go straight to Kyoto when I left Kawaguchi-Ko but I made a last minute change and got off the train in Nagoya…
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118: Kawaguchiko Days
April 6th, 2006Not sure how much I can recap as I am writing this a few weeks after i was in Kawaguchigo-Ko but I can try 🙂
The blog 117 talks about my arrival in Kawagichko but I did loose most of the blog at the time due to a computer glitch.
I arrived here in the morning after a 2 hour bus trip from Tokyo. The bus station in Tokyo was tricky to find as it was well hidden in a little side road – strange place for long distance bus to depart from;-) The bus ride was quite good and two hours is not very long. The train would have been possible too (using my rail pass) but not all the way and I would have had to take another bus afterwards for an hour so I figures I pay the little extra to get the direct bus from Tokyo to Kawaguchiko.
Since I had plenty of time left that day after I had sorted out my accomodation for the night (the fabulous Sunnide Hotel with a magic view of Lake Kawaguchiko and Mt Fuji) I got a lake explorer bus ticket and jumped on one of the “retro” busses. You have to give it to the Japanese they do like to be “novel”. The retro busses look vaguely retro, are yellow and rather on the small side to the extend that the wooden seats are very narrow and people taller than 1.60m have to squeeze in 😉
The bus takes a route around Lake Kawaguchi and Lake Sai west of Lake Kawaguchi. There are two more lakes (Shoji and Motosu) to the west of Lake Sai but they are only accessible by local busses which run very infrequently. The fith Lake is south-east of Lake Kawaguchi and is called lake Yamanaka but apparently it is less attractive.
The Lakes are snuggly fit inbetween some hills and there is barely enough space for the roads. There was a pretty strong wind going across the Lakes and you could see little water devils (as opposed to dust devils) whirling up water from the lake surface. Views of the Lakes and Mount Fuji were fab but there was little time to get off the bus at all places that I wanted because I had to watch the bus timetable so not to miss the last bus.
I did go to some aparently famous caves, the Wind Cave and the Ice Cave, but other than enjoying the walk through the madly messy forst in the area (the forst floor was seriously uneven with stones, boulders, big gaps in the ground and branches of trees all over the place), the caves were pretty disappointing. I felt seriously cheated having had to pay for lengthy hole in the ground that had no interesting visual areas whatsoever.. oh well.. been there, seen it …;-)
The day ended with catching the last bus back to the train station where I picked up my backpack (the touriust information people kindly offer free luggage keeping during the day) and waited for a free shuttle bus to my hotel. When I checked in I was over the moon withthe room I got (as mentioned in the other Kawaguchiko blog). The best view of the lake and Mt Fuji I could possibly have hoped for.. I did grab one of the free bikes and cycled to the nearest Supermarket and bought some food for dinner and then chilled out in the hotel. Naturally this included the use of their rotemburo (hot outdoor spa) in the evening. A shame Mt Fuji was not lit 😉
The next day I got up earlyish and got ready for a day of cycling and hiking. It was nice and sunny and I had a quick stop at the Lake to watch some ducks and Geese near the shore.
TBC…
117: Kawaguchi-Ko
April 3rd, 2006Arrived in Kawaguchi-Ko today after a 2 hour bus drive. Weather here is fab, sunny, clear sky and not too cold (around 12C which is fine as long as the fun is out;-) and the view of little Mount Fuji is dead exciting..
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116: Soaked
April 3rd, 2006So I got up this morning, looked out of the window and the weather seemed fine, cloudy but dry. 7 hours later I was dripping wet but never mind I had a nice day exploring Zen Temples in Kamakura 🙂
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115: No Go-Ko – Kamakura
April 2nd, 2006I changed plans a little and went to Kamakura today rather than going to Fuji Go-Ko. Kamakura is a small costal town with lots of temples from around the 12th century. Read the rest of this entry »
114: Nikko, Chuzenji & Yumoto
April 2nd, 2006I went to Nikko, 2 hours north-west of Tokyo. Nikko is a UNESCO World Heritage Site for its famous Temples and Shrines and it’s a must see for anyone travelling to Japan I guess. I also did a trip to some nearby areas, namely Chuzenji and Yumoto.
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113: Online Chores and more..
April 1st, 2006It is a chore these days to check emails, update blogs and generally to go near computers the more days go by the more I hate the thought of spending time in front of them. Not because I don’t want to send emails or write the blogs…
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saschas