Days 11 & 12 - Journey to Fuji-san and back, a not so fun adventure

This day, and the next, did not exactly go as planned. I booked this segment of the trip based on visions of us walking around the base of Fuji, getting different angles of shots through fall-colored momiji leaves, and even lounging in an outdoor onsen, staring at her greatness. However, this did not happen, and it was not even close. I had no idea it took ALL. DAY. LONG to get there.

We started the day by checking out of the beloved Kyoto Sanjo Park Hotel, then grabbing some snacks/lunch for the road, and hopping on a bus to Kyoto Station. The bus was standing room only, and took forever because of the stop and go traffic all the way there. But no big deal...it's only a few miles away, if that. A few final glances at the still impressive, nearly 25 years later...Kyoto Station.

Once there, we had to stand in a lengthy queue to get our tickets. Then, for whatever reason, we could not successfully book them through the machine. It required human assistance, and it took about an hour to get the tickets to Fuji.

Once on board our first train, I was pleased. I always am with Japanese trains- they're spacious, quiet, clean and comfortable. They also feature a new to me system that has a green (seat is booked), red (seat not booked/open) or yellow (seat is about to be taken at the next stop) lighting system above each chair. Brilliant. You never need to be embarrassed again if you didn't book a reserved seat (which we always do, to avoid that prior embarrassment).

Our first train was a Shinkansen/bullet train that took about 2 hours. Very pleasant. But then we had to take a second train, in a car without reservations, so it was far less comfortable...as you always feels like a jerk with your big bags. That train was also not a rapid or an express, so we had to stop at each station with our bags at our feet, the whole time. Just not comfortable.

Our third and final train was another local train, and was not covered on the rail pass, so we had to pay $10 each for the last segment. Believe it or not, we did not get to our hotel until about seven hours after we had left our hotel room that AM, even though Fuji is NOT THAT FAR AWAY. It was the journey that never ended and by the time we got there, it was basically dark (Mt. Fuji Station). We had a short walk to our hotel, but again, it was dark, and a semi industrial area...so there was nothing to do/places to eat, really.

Our hotel room was one of the pricier ones we'd booked, and by far, the most simple one of the trip. There wasn't much to do that night other than walk a half mile to the convenience store, grab dinner, and go to bed.

The next AM, we woke up to clear blue skies and sense of optimism of what the day would hold. We drew open the curtains and immediately saw Mt. Fuji, so we headed out to try and see more. I had read that the best view from that area was from a platform designed/angled for viewing at the train station.

Before we left, we went to get breakfast downstairs, and it was almost laughable except for it was so frustrating. There were a couple of very old, tiny ladies who were tasked with cooking and refilling items. However, rather than refilling anything anything in any measurable amount, they would add a tiny scoops of rice or salad to any dish that was empty...so that one or two people could get a small portion, and no one else. This meant you had about 15 foreigners standing with empty trays, circling the emptied plates/bowls like hawks, waiting for some little old obaasan to drop three spoonfuls of food into it so they could grab it for themselves. It was the epitome of old school frugality, but so frustrating. They had 'bowls' of yogurt that had, generously, two bites of yogurt each, so you had to grab two or three if you wanted a single portion. Everything was empty- curry, rice, etc, so we left quickly. We also found out that they would not bend by so much as a minute on their check out time of 10am. Who has a checkout time of 10am? The Fuji Station hotel. So even though you pay for a breakfast that can be consumed in 1 minute, you also need to be out at 10am. Just not a hospital place to stay, at all. 

We figured we'd just quickly head back to the station to try and see the mountain, and then get back before 10am so we could check out. 

The station did have a cute a torii at the entrance.

The platform was not quite what I'd expected...it was small, had train tracks running next to it, and the railings/roofs obscured a good bit of the view. We spent about 5 minutes taking pictures up there, and then headed back down. 

We assumed we'd have the day to cruise the areas, but when we went back downstairs to book our return tickets to Tokyo, we were surprised to find that over the course of the day, over 95% of the busses were already sold out! And there was only like 2 busses that had seats available that entire day...and one was leaving in 30 minutes. The other bus left perhaps a hour or so later, but didn't have enough seats for the three of us. Since we preferred to take the bus back (far more direct/fast), we booked the tickets, ran back to get our bags, and managed to catch the bus!

The bus was pleasant- quiet, comfy, had wifi and we back in the heart of Shibuya within 2 hr and 45 min after leaving, far easier than catching three trains that might take more like 5 hours with transfers/seat changes. Nearly 45 min of the journey was picking up passengers on winding side streets...and once we got on the freeway, it was pretty quick/quiet. I think it was only around $15-20 per person for the bus as well...far faster/cheaper than the trains.

We walked about the center gai shopping/restaurant area for awhile and had dinner in Shibuya (sushi), then took a few trains about an hour or so, to our hotel closer to Tokyo Disneyland. Thankfully, it was only a 3-4 min walk from the station.

It was our final place in Japan, and another apart-hotel. The priciest place we'd stayed on the trip, for two nights, but that's what you get when you want to stay near Tokyo Disneyland!

It was like a mini-home away from home, much like our first place in Shinjuku, where again, Ryan had a bunk bed, which he was all too happy to have to get away from us, even if only vertically. ;-)

So our big Mt. Fuji adventure was basically a detour to the sticks that took hours and hours, and resulted in a few moments on a mediocre platform. Not exactly highly recommended the way we did it. :-)