As we start to prepare for Day 2 of our Mt. Fuji trip, Jody got a picture from our hotel room window of the amusement park, FUJI-Q, lit up at night. I guess they don't want you to forget that they're there.
And I feel the need to take this picture of Mt. Fuji from our window as we prepare to go to Station 5 on the volcano for that up close and personal trip.
Here is our now familiar train/bus station for departures to Mt. Fuji, the Moss Festival, etc.
On the bus going up Mt. Fuji - a 45 minute trip.
And here we are at Station 5. As can be expected, a Mecca for food, drink, and gifts..
Notice the little legend in red near the bottom? That's the 5th Step.
Leave it to horsewoman Jody to find horses wherever she goes.
You're probably wondering, where's Mt. Fuji? Well, at first the cloud cover around the volcano was so bad that we couldn't see it's top, nor the ground below. So, we just hung out longer and shopped and had some coffee..
This was one of several bikers who cycled up to Station 5. Wow!
I had quite the thrill when I found this Darth Vader-San cloth hanging artwork with Darth in front of My. Fuji. May The Force Be With You!
You ever notice that when I take selfies with Jody that I'm always the "Big Giant Head"? I wonder why that is?
Finally Mt. Fuji appeared. Yeah!
After riding the bus back down Mt. Fuji, we got on a train and headed for our second destination of the day, famous 5-story Chureito Pagoda in Fujiyoshida. To get to it, one must walk up 400 stairs.
FUJI-Q can be seen from everywhere.
We made it!
Ok. First off, the picture above is NOT my picture. When I first discovered that Jody and I were going to live in Japan for 4 months, I began researching Japan and discovered this iconic photo of a pagoda overlooking Mt. Fuji. At the time I did not realize that it was the famous 5-story Chureito Pagoda in Fujiyoshida. From the beginning, I always wanted to visit this scene, and now, here we are! It was worth walking up the 400 stairs for a glimpse of the view that I had only known in a picture for the last 12 months. Below is my attempt to recreate this picture within the limitations of an overcast day, no cherry blossoms blooming, and Mt. Fuji playing hide and seek. Still, an awesome scene and experience for me personally.
Jody played around with her camera with the above and below shots and they blew me away in their drama.
A Japanese ceremony was being conducted at the foot of the pagoda while we were taking pictures. There was much flute playing amidst a very quiet and dignified ceremony.
As we prepared to leave, we looked down at the steps and decided to instead take a walking road down the site. It was very beautiful and peaceful and despite the presence of other visitors to the pagoda, we were by ourselves during this walk.
We discovered a little building on the way down with an interesting well.
As Jody loves dragons, this was a real treat for her.
We made our walking way back to the train station. The tiled path was made more interesting by inlaid pictures of the pagoda and Mt. Fuji. Very attractive.
A rice paddy we encountered on the way.
As we got off the train at our hotel destination, we couldn't fail to notice the dramatic image of Fuji against one of the several FUJI-Q park roller coasters. We had accomplished what we had set out to do and had beaten the rain which would start shortly after we arrived back at our hotel. Another successful day. But, would we make it to FUJI-Q with rain scheduled for all day tomorrow?
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