We are on Hato Bus tour to see Mt-Fuji! Since figured that it will be more enriching to have a tour guide sharing little titbits about Mt-Fuji and journey to there. Our tour guide, Azumi, is professional and systematic, keeps the bus journey interesting and share really interesting knowledge and stories about Mt-Fuji and Japanese culture.
Along the way to Mt-Fuji, it is interesting to see the landscape of high-rise buildings turning to vast lands populated with low rise buildings, like terrace houses, as we move closer to Mt-Fuji. It feels so refreshing to see such buildings surrounded by mountains with lush foliage, given that I live in the city.
And I got to give the 👍 to the perfectly cleaned windows of the bus, allowing me to take some awesome clear photos from on board the bus during the journey.
The planning of the tour is very thoughtful to schedule a stop at Dangozaka Service Area Westbound, which is very much needed, since I’m getting restless on the bus and it’s good to go to the washroom before the long journey ahead. I actually like this service area a lot. There are many shops here, so I buy a couple of souvenirs from Expasa and enjoy a grilled onigiri from Onigiri-Ya. The washroom here is so spacious and clean that it’s impressive. I wish I can stay here a bit longer but we got to continue on our journey to Mt-Fuji to ensure everything is on schedule.
While on the road through a forest, the tour guide says that along thus stretch of road, if one drives at a certain specific speed, a harmonic music will be created by the interaction of the movement of the vehicle and the specific environment at this area. A short while later, I start to hear a soft music playing in the background, as if it is from some loud speakers located far within the forest. My jaws drop at the confirmation that it is that music the tour guide was talking about. It sounds so melodic that it is hard to believe that it is created by a moving vehicle.
The biggest highlight of the tour, at least to me, is the tour of Fuji Subaru Line 5th Station, which is halfway up Mt-Fuji’s northern slopes. I love this place because it’s beautiful! This is the nearest we can get to the peak of Mt-Fuji since no wonder are we go to hike up there. Surrounded by red pine trees, this place is especially cold and windy, but still comfortable enough to walk around if adequately dressed in extra warm heat tech, gloves, thick winter coat and mask.
There are shops and restaurants housed within quaint wooden or brick buildings with gable or mansard roofs, that, together with pine forest and Mt-Fuji as backdrop, create a picturesque landscape reminiscent of winter wonderland. And from here, I manage to get a clear picture of Mt-Fuji. Good thing that the weather is good.
Next, we have lunch at Hotel Regina Kawaguchiko, as planned by Hato Bus. It is a surprisingly good and sumptuous meal. I’m totally impressed that they went all out to plan such a nice meal for us.
After a good meal, we are whisked off to the famous Oishi Park at Lake Kawaguchiko. This place is beautiful due to the huge blue lake, surrounded by greenery and flanked by mountains. And they have horticulturalists planting rows of flowers to look like a flower field. And there are lots of stalls selling local produce. It looks like such a promising place to have a fun time.
But the problem is there are too many tourists there, and many are uncivilised.
I only managed to get the famous soft-serve ice-cream before time is up since the queue is so long and I kind of lose the interest to explore more due to the huge number of uncivilised tourists.
I got Lavender and Maple soft-serve ice-cream due to its novelty. It’s very nice, but pure Lavender is nicer as maple distracts from the soothing aroma of lavender.
Finally, we get to Arakurayama Sengen Shrine, where we can opt to either climb the long flight of stairs to get to the shrine, or just chill at one of the cafes in the area at the foot of the stairs. This place has the same issue as Oishi Park, so I just climb the initial flight of stairs to take beautiful pictures of red maple leaves with Mt-Fuji as background and then walk to a nearby cafe, Cafe Yorozuya, to rest and relax, which is the nice part of this leg of the tour. The area around this cafe has a peaceful idyllic vibe that I especially relish after jostling with the massive crowds.
Finally, it is time to head back to the city.
Along the way back, we stop at Ishikawa PA to refresh ourselves, go to washroom and grab whatever bites we are interested in. It is a nice place to get a breather.
After a journey that seems to take forever, due to the traffic jam, we finally alight at Shinjuku!
I highly recommend this tour since everything is very well-thought out and organised, with lots of interesting and fun moments.
Thoughts: What an Experience!
