Mount Fuji is awesome

And so is Tokyo. We spent our first day in Japan on a bus. We took the Sunrise Tour to Mount Fuji and the Hakone area with a side trip for a brief cruise on Lake Ashi. Since it was a Sunday, traffic conditions were light and the drive to Mount Fuji went quickly. As we drove, the weather improved considerably. By the time we sighted Mount Fuji, the sun was shining brightly from a gorgeous, virtually cloudless, blue sky. This isn’t winter as we knew it in southern Ontario.
But it was still winter on the mountain with lots of snow and the road remained closed beyond the first station. So, it was look but don’t touch and no time to climb. It wasn’t quite the same spiritual feel as Uluru in Australia but more pervasive than Mount Taranaki in New Zealand. Fuji certainly dominates the surrounding countryside. Since the day remained clear and bright, we got many different views as we drove over the mountains to Hakone. Every time the road curved, there was Mount Fuji. I’m sure the guide got tired saying, “On your left ...”, “On your right ...” and “You’re very lucky today”.
We stopped for lunch at a Chinese restaurant that didn’t look very Chinese to us or to our table companions, an English couple living and working in Shanghai. The meal was a typical Japanese lunch with a little bit of a lot of different things and surprisingly tasty and filling. Or maybe it was just a feeling of accomplishment at getting some food into our mouths with chopsticks. I have no idea what we ate but there have been no ill effects.
After lunch, we bussed off to Lake Ashi for a short (very short) cruise on the ferry boat with still more views of Mount Fuji. The lake was a busy place with lots of locals engaged in various aquatic activities. We were supposed to take a gondola ride from the lake to the hills above but they told us the lift was closed because of the fog. No one in the tour group could see the fog because of the blinding sunlight so they told us they were taking us to a better gondola ride. I don’t know about the one we missed but the one we took was worth it. We got a close-up look at some hot springs and still more gorgeous views of Mount Fuji. All-in-all the day was worth enduring the long bus ride back to Tokyo and the mini-traffic jam that was Sunday afternoon. So ended our one excursion.
Now we’re on our own to explore Tokyo. This morning we walked from the hotel to Shiba Park. We were quite impressed with the Zojoji Temple and its environs, especially since it wasn’t mentioned in our guide book. One thing that surprised us on the walk was how late things start moving in Tokyo. At nine o’clock the streets were still virtually empty. I think everybody is still in/on the transit system on the way to work. The transit system is amazing, by the way.
Our next venture was the Sumida River cruise from Hinode pier. Not a great trip because the boat isn’t really built for sight-seeing (poor sight lines) and the commentary mainly involved naming the bridges we passed under but it did get us to Asakusa. From there, we browsed through Nakamise Avenue and explored the Sensoji shrine. After lunch at Ueno Station and a stroll through Ueno Park, we took the train to Nippori so Doreen could do some shopping in ‘Fabric Town’. She found some fabric for herself and some that Stacy wanted so it was a successful outing.
The only thing is that walking on a treadmill does not prepare you for a full day of traipsing around a big city. Or maybe, we’re really getting old. At any rate, we’re beat. And we get to do this again tomorrow. I love it when things work out as planned.