Japan, Day 1
Let's see how my memory is, nearly two weeks later. :) I usually try to write travelogues as I go, but didn't do it this time. No excuses, except that thewronghands was doing such a splendid job of it. I think this will mainly be a photo post.
We got into Narita about 7 pm after a long flight that promised wifi but didn't deliver. How evil is that? Thus, our first order of business was figuring out where we wanted to stay. We'd originally planned on going out to Kawaguchiko for the first night, which is a picturesque little town in the shadow of Mt. Fuji. We had a day to kill before TWH needed to be in Tokyo for her seminar. However, we realized that it would take about 5 or so hours on various trains to get out there and were too wasted to tackle that, especially with luggage. So, we headed out to the Ayase area to the staid business hotel we'd lined up for the next few days.
The next morning, we tackled mass transit. I won't go into all the agony, but suffice to say that it took something like six hours to get out to Kawaguchiko. It also took about $50 too much, since we unintentionally asked the station attendant for a bizarre itinerary. The route was what Google maps suggested, but ended up making no sense whatsoever. Once we got an actual Japan Rail map, and then a subway map, life got better and cheaper.
At Kawaguchiko, I found the trailhead for the Misutoge hike. We intended to go the full ten miles to Misutoge, then catch the train from there. Unfortunately, we were late enough in the day that we would have finished long after dark. We had lights but were unenthused about the prospect, being unfamiliar with the area. Also, I managed to mysteriously destroy my ankle sometime between getting on the plane in Seattle and landing in Tokyo. I still have no idea how it happened, but the foot was not in perfect working order. We ended up hiking about a third of the way, then turning around and coming back. And surprise! The views of Fuji were really lovely on the way back, which is probably why the hiking book suggests starting at Misutoge. (We would have, but we missed the stop. Japanese comprehension fail.)
Start of the Misutoge Trail. There's a rabbit shrine and a fun tourist area at this area, as it is also a Fuji viewpoint.
Fuji
We heart Fuji-san
I have no idea about the bunny shrine, but I'm not asking questions. This is one of the bunny statues.
We got back down to Kawaguchiko in good time for our first actual Japanese meal, then started the long transit ride back to Ayase.
We got into Narita about 7 pm after a long flight that promised wifi but didn't deliver. How evil is that? Thus, our first order of business was figuring out where we wanted to stay. We'd originally planned on going out to Kawaguchiko for the first night, which is a picturesque little town in the shadow of Mt. Fuji. We had a day to kill before TWH needed to be in Tokyo for her seminar. However, we realized that it would take about 5 or so hours on various trains to get out there and were too wasted to tackle that, especially with luggage. So, we headed out to the Ayase area to the staid business hotel we'd lined up for the next few days.
The next morning, we tackled mass transit. I won't go into all the agony, but suffice to say that it took something like six hours to get out to Kawaguchiko. It also took about $50 too much, since we unintentionally asked the station attendant for a bizarre itinerary. The route was what Google maps suggested, but ended up making no sense whatsoever. Once we got an actual Japan Rail map, and then a subway map, life got better and cheaper.
At Kawaguchiko, I found the trailhead for the Misutoge hike. We intended to go the full ten miles to Misutoge, then catch the train from there. Unfortunately, we were late enough in the day that we would have finished long after dark. We had lights but were unenthused about the prospect, being unfamiliar with the area. Also, I managed to mysteriously destroy my ankle sometime between getting on the plane in Seattle and landing in Tokyo. I still have no idea how it happened, but the foot was not in perfect working order. We ended up hiking about a third of the way, then turning around and coming back. And surprise! The views of Fuji were really lovely on the way back, which is probably why the hiking book suggests starting at Misutoge. (We would have, but we missed the stop. Japanese comprehension fail.)
Start of the Misutoge Trail. There's a rabbit shrine and a fun tourist area at this area, as it is also a Fuji viewpoint.
Fuji
We heart Fuji-san
I have no idea about the bunny shrine, but I'm not asking questions. This is one of the bunny statues.
We got back down to Kawaguchiko in good time for our first actual Japanese meal, then started the long transit ride back to Ayase.