Mt Fuji (Japan)

As people who travel will know, the landscape is what they take away as the largest memory of their destination. In Japan that is not really the case. It has been a few years since I visited the land of the rising sun and the Japanese landscape is not high on my list of memories.

I travelled there when I was in my teens (which may be too young to really appreciate such a different culture) and I remember the low roof's, the extraordinarily ...
...was that one day though that we made a trip to the mountain known as Fuji. It was once very volcanically active, and is still known to spew the odd plume of smoke but for the time being, Fuji is a fairly docile giant.

There is a bus depot at the bottom of the mountain that will take groups or individuals up the side of Fuji for approximately £5 which is quite good considering everything else in the country is so expensive. Because ... more

As people who travel will know, the landscape is what they take away as the largest memory of their destination. In Japan that is not really the case. It has been a few years since I visited the land of the rising sun and the Japanese landscape is not high on my list of memories.

I travelled there when I was in my teens (which may be too young to really appreciate such a different culture) and I remember the low roof's, the extraordinarily low ceilings and raw fish at every turn. There was that one day though that we made a trip to the mountain known as Fuji. It was once very volcanically active, and is still known to spew the odd plume of smoke but for the time being, Fuji is a fairly docile giant.

There is a bus depot at the bottom of the mountain that will take groups or individuals up the side of Fuji for approximately £5 which is quite good considering everything else in the country is so expensive. Because I was with a group, the arrangments were previously arranged for my excursion so I don't know how one would find their way to the mountain.

The ride up goes fairly quickly although I missed half of it in a panic looking for a necklace my boyfriend at the time had given me that morning and I'd lost (but that's another story). The bus then stops at three different station levels on Mt.Fuji. The first look-out is really quite extraordinary because it is above the clouds and it is possible to see the mountain range for miles. There are simple pathways to look-out vantages but it was quite windy though so hold on to your caps.

The second and third plateaus were more of a tourist trap orientation. Souvenir stands, shopping areas and restaurants obscurred the views somewhat although the merchandise was found to be slightly cheaper than at the base of the mountain.

After descending Fuji and the brief experience, we drove to a lakeside picnic area about half an hour away (Lake Kawagawa) to find a magnificent view of the mountain. It was then that the thought struck me that a mountain is just like all the others if you go to it to explore; the magnificence comes from the view it creates when simply stopping to stare.

My best memories of Japan are not of the landscape, although any memories of Fuji are not from venturing to it, but from admiring it from afar!

Happy Travels. 

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