Kawaguchi-ko & Mt. Fuji

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We found a very lovely traditional ryokan called Murahamasou, located by a lake in the hills around Mt. Fuji.
Even though Murahamasou is very traditional, the daughter-in-law of the owners is American-born & can help you to navigate the surrounding area, including hiking Mt Fuji.  See their website at www.Murahamasou.com.

This is the dining room - the rates include breakfast & an incredible, home-cooked, multi-course dinner.

Another view of the dining room.  This is the sort of place that the Japanese themselves choose for vacations.

The room at the entryway is a fine place to play a game of dominos in the evening.

Of course they have a traditional Japanese bath.  I had to snap this photo quickly before my camera fogged up!

The view from our window with Lake Shoji, one of the famous Five Lakes in the Yamanashi region.
 If we had been able to stay longer, we could have gone fishing, boating, hiking or horseback riding.

Here is Sandi, the proprietor's daughter-in-law.

And here are the proprietors, Sandi's mother- and father-in-law.  They make awesome food!

We wandered around Kawaguchi-ko.  There was an interesting statue.

A different sort of fountain.

Here's a view of the lake.

We took a cable car up the hillside ...

... which gave us some very nice views.

More views from the cable car.

The cable car deposited us on high up on the hillside, from where we could see the Gundum theme park.

Gaetan, Cardiff & Nicolai were at the Gundam park.  Note the slope at right - that's part of Mt. Fuji.

Fuji was mostly hidden behind clouds, but by being patient, I eventually caught a glimpse of the famed peak.

Even on the hillside amidst hiking trails, the comfort of the awesome vending machines was available!
This one even has takoyaki, the octopus dumplings that are an Osaka speciality, and the price is reasonable.

This is a photo of a photo on the wall, but I couldn't resist it because of the remarkable lenticular cloud on Fuji.
As winds speed up over the peak, the velocity increase lowers the air pressure & forces water vapor to condense.


There is a Thomas the Tank Engine theme park in the area & I loved the designs on this bus.

Gaetan, Cardiff & Nicolai await the bus to Mt. Fuji.  Other hopefuls are documenting the start of their climb.

Nicolai and Cardiff are ready to start climbing.

Off they go.

 

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