After my hour of sleep, I got up close to 4am and got to Okachimachi JR station not long after, where my string of trains would be departing. Surprisingly, not even before 5am, there were still quite a number of people at the station and on the first train of the day, but at least I did manage to get a sleep.
I was to take the Chuo local train all the way to Takao station, which took at least 1 1/4 hours. Considering how many hours I slept, I dozed off a bit, despite the coffee. Upon arriving at Takao, I was to swap to another local service to Otsuki, adding another hour or so to my travel time. By then, I was out of the concrete jungle and into mountainous terrain. There, I swapped to the Fujikyu Railway - a quaint little dual-carriage, single track train service that ascended up the mountains towards Mt Fuji. The trains were very new (only in service since last year) and outfitted in a pretty nice wooden decor. Not only were there the odd tourists, but also quite a lot of school students getting on and off at local town stations along the way.
It was until 7:30am when I finally arrived at Kawaguchiko, and even before I got to the lake proper I could see Mt Fuji as clear as day, its snow-topped peak unobscured. It was a really pleasant day: sunny and not cloudy, pleasant and neither freezing nor warm (although I did wish I brought a scarf along). Perfect weather for a relaxing contrast to yesterday's hectic rush at times.
I walked along the town streets from the station towards Kawaguchiko, which didn't take too long to traverse. The lake wasn't huge, but you'd definitely need to spend quite a bit of time if you wished to walk its entire circumference.
First stop along the lake was a small point along the northern end of the lake after you cross the bridge. It doesn't really have a name but its the site where many classic photos of Mt Fuji, flanked by cherry blossom trees, were taken. You can tell its famous: upon arrival, quite a number of photographers were already there, having set up their tripods and cameras taking photos of Mt Fuji. Most of them were elderly folk armed with their DSLRs (although I did see a couple of film and medium-format cameras around) and mainly local folk - there weren't many tourists gathered here, save for the odd Chinese tourist taking a happy snap with their point-and-shoot. One thing that did strike me as interesting was their photographic etiquette, which itself was no more than standard Japanese customary politeness. No shoving around and blocking each other's viewpoints - people excused themselves before they attempted to cross over the path, and gave each other (as well as themselves) adequate space to set up their tripods and cameras. All in a very courteous manner. And, strangely enough, very few "person" shots - it was all about Mt Fuji, not "Mt Fuji and me in the photo". Chinese tourists, please take notes.
After spending some time taking photos at that point, I wandered around the lake's circumference for a bit, exploring the area lined with cherry blossoms. Some had blossomed, others were just about to. Lake Kawaguchiko usually blossoms later by one or two weeks compared to Tokyo, so today was near-perfect timing.
It's a nice place to relax and take in the natural wonders of Japan, and there were quite a few tourists buses and resort hotels around the area.
Probably not as tourist-heavy as, say, Hakone (and considering its early in the morning), but the odd Asian tourist could be spotted. In fact, some elderly man tried to converse with me and was surprised when I told him I came from Australia.
Besides seeing Mt Fuji, there's not that much to do in Lake Kawaguchiko, although it is a fairly convenient spot for trips to Mt Fuji proper. There were a couple of souvenir shops dotted around the district selling Mt Fuji-related goods, and the Fuji-Q Highland theme park was nearby (but really, you come all the way to Mt Fuji just to ride a roller coaster or two?), but otherwise it's a mainly nature-oriented town.
Having explored Lake Kawaguchiko, I decided to head back to Tokyo and suburbia. Because I was so far along the Chuo line already, I planned to visit this famous ramen shop I discovered online that was in Hachioji for lunch before getting back into Tokyo. Local trains were slow - even the so-called "Chuo Rapid" was effectively a local service past Mitaka - so the trip took a bit longer than I expected.
By the time I reached Hachioji, it was noon and the hordes of salarymen/women and school students were beginning to gather for lunch. Worried that there would be no space (or worse yet, closed due to limited soup quantities), I quickly dashed to the ramen store called "En", only a couple of minutes walk from Hachioji JR. Thankfully, when I arrived, despite the store's small size, there we still some seats left.
This place was famous for its shoyu (soy sauce) ramen and indeed, it was top notch. Regular size was not too large, not too small, the soup base was light but wonderfully sublime (and not ridiculously salty), the noodles chewy and other condiments done great. A different ramen tasting experience compared to the richer tonkatsu soup ones at (the place I visited two years ago in) Ikebukuro or Ippudo at New York, but its a great one nonetheless. At only 700¥, I'd definitely give this store a big tick with regards to not only palate but also the wallet.
After lunch, I headed back down to Tokyo, jumping across to a Chuo Special Rapid train as the regular Rapid was taking too long stopping at too many stations. Walked around Shibuya for a while, but fatigue started to kick in and as my legs were also starting to hurt, I decided to go back to Akihabara, buy some groceries and headed back to my hotel after dinner for an early nap. 'Tis the consequence of a one hour sleep the night before, but it was worth it just to see a clear Mt Fuji surrounded by cherry blossoms in bloom.
Breakfast: Mandarin jelly
Canned coffee of the day: Wonda Gold (3.5/5 - a bit nicer to drink than your average super-sweet Wonda)
No comments:
Post a Comment