Travel@HamHamFarm - The World, Here We Come!

We departed Kyoto for Mt. Fuji today. As part of our plan, this is also the last day of our 7 days JR pass usage. It’s a long day ahead as Mt. Fuji is not that accessible. We took the JR Tokaido Shinkansen from JR Kyoto Station to Mishima Station (2 hrs) and transferred to Fujikyu bus to Kawaguchiko Station in the Fuji Five Lake region (2 hrs). The bus ride cost JPY2,130 (S$27.70) and is not covered by the JR Pass.

After a long journey, we reached Kawaguchiko Station and transferred to the Kawaguchiko 5th station via the Mt Fuji Summer Climbing Bus (which runs hourly during the climbing season). Weather is cooling at 5th station even in summer, which was welcoming as we’re most of the time sticky and sweaty in outdoor condition…

Returned to the ryokan and we had a sumptuous dinner followed by public bath experience in traditional Japanese Onsen. What a fruitful day…

The new Kyoto Station building was built on the occasion of the
1,200th anniversary of the Heian Capital foundation.
It was opened to the public in 1997 and stands in perfect
contrast with many foreign tourists' image of Kyoto as the capital of traditional Japan.

Packed lunch from the eateries within Kyoto Station…

Here comes the Shinkansen…

Limited leg space as we have 2 bulky luggage…

Clearing my "tape" on my laptop…

While Vance is clearing his "tape" on my PSP...

Nicely packed lunch… Looks too pretty to eat…
As you can see, there’s chopstick and wet tissue attached…
Japs are really good in this…

Tata! Every piece of sushi is done so delightfully…. I’m hungry!

Notice the small bottle of soya sauce attached?
That’s for the fish… Really scrupulous…

That’s the Fujikyu bus counter to bus tickets to Kawaguchiko Station…

The bus is basically a normal bus that ploughs through
Mishima Station towards Kawaguchiko Station…
No luggage places, normal bus seats and we sat through for 2 hrs…
Warning : Pls visit the loo before embarkation…

Complicated bus fare timetable… We still don’t know how it works…

Passed through Fuji-Q High Land…
This is the Eejanaika, which is a 4th dimension roller coaster.
Unlike a traditional roller coaster where the trains run parallel to the track,
the 4th dimension coaster pushes the design to a new level with
passenger cars that can spin 360-degrees forwards or backwards.
The spinning is controlled by a second rail on the steel coaster track.
The result is the head-over-heels action of a flat ride combined
with the diving airtime and thrills of a roller coaster…

See video on this ride…
http://www.metacafe.com/watch/532723/eejanaika_fuji_q_roller_coaster/

And if given more time, Vance would probably be dragging me
to Fuji-Q High Land to take this ride… *Help help!*

Arrival at Lake Kawaguchiko Station…
we immediately proceed to grab hold of Mt Fuji Summer Climbing Bus tickets
from Kawaguchiko Station to Kawaguchiko-guchi 5th Station.
Cost : JPY2,000 (S$26) per round trip per pax

The Fuji-Kawaguchiko Tourist Information Centre.
The approachable staffs from the centre assisted us in contacting
Lakeland Hotel Mizunosato for our luggage pickup.
We dropped the bulky luggage with the hotel representative
but forgotten to move the laptop (which was in Vance’s bag) to the suitcase…
As a result, Vance carried the laptop from Kawaguchiko Station to Mt Fuji?!
Considering that the laptop is relatively heavy,
Vance didn’t really complain about the weight… :)
Vance: I didn't complained?!?! What has gotten to me?!? Hehe

Front of Kawaguchiko Station…

July and August are the official climbing season for Mt Fuji…
Look at the number of climbers in line…

The driver seat…

Notice the number of stamps on this wooden pole…
If I’m not wrong, one chop will be stamped on the pole
whenever you conquer one station…

Reaching Mt Fuji after an hour of bus ride…
Look at the no. of cars that was driven up…
Japs really love Mt Fuji…