Mount Fuji

We wanted to organise this trip on our own and even now we are convinced that it would have been possible, though with at least two days to dedicate to the excursion to the most famous area of Japan. But having only one day and certainly not being sure of having fully understood the connections between buses and various trains, we decided to entrust ourselves (against our will) to a tour operator. We took a brochure at the entrance of the hotel, checked that it was a tour congenial to us and then, thanks to the hotel's duty manager, we booked for the only day of full sunshine of our holiday (also this magically predicted by the same duty manager). The tour operator is called Grey Line and offers numerous possibilities for excursions both in Tokyo and outside.

We chose the excursion as far as Mount Fuji, then a tour of the Hakone region with the cable car up to the geothermal area of Owakudani and a magnificent crossing on the pirate ship of Lake Ashi with a return to Tokyo via the super-fast Shinkansen train. All this, lunch included, for the modest sum of 16,000 yen, that is about 150€ each. In the morning, around 7.40, we present ourselves in the hotel lobby and after waiting incredibly for 20 minutes the young lady arrives breathless and gives us the sticker corresponding to our excursion and seats us on a coach that will take us to the sorting area. Unfortunately this was the truly useless phase of the whole day (and perhaps of our visit to Tokyo): we got up at 6.30 and at 9.30 we were still at Tokyo Station after having gone round numerous hotels to pick up other customers.

Good heavens, couldn't they have told us to go directly to the station at 9.30???? At last we set off and we are about twenty and we have a guide who speaks English very simply and gives us numerous pieces of information both about the day and about the traditions of Japan. I must say that the information about the excursions was very clear and simple to understand even for me, who certainly cannot call myself fluent in English! Towards 12 we arrive at Mount Fuji at station number 5 at about 2400 metres (the mountain is over 3700 metres high). It is not very cold but there is a great deal of haze so we do not have a great panorama below us. A few hundred metres above us we see the tongues of snow coming down and also some snowboarders who have tackled the summer descents. It is all very suggestive, a pity though that the stop is only 30 minutes and that the weather is not the best.

This thing about the minutes will be the leitmotif of the whole day: it was all very nice but our guide did nothing but tell us "15, 20, 10, 30 minutes", decidedly stressful especially for us who are used to doing our trips on our own account... then we go down to the valley again and enter the Hakone area heading towards the Hakone Lake Hotel to consume at 14.00 the "west style" meal. A real rubbish, had we known we would have ordered à la carte and would certainly have saved (the lunch cost us about 20€ each): we ate a fish soup (horrible), a piece of roast chicken, roast potatoes, salad and a mini slice of dessert, to finish with tea and coffee. In Rome they would call it a real "rip-off". Alright let's move on. We go into the volcanic area of Hakone and take the cable car that takes us into the Owakudani area where there are numerous sulphurous springs.

The air at times is unbreathable but we head to the area of the pools where they cook eggs in the 90-degree waters, making them take on the characteristic black colour. 5 eggs for 5€ and you have satisfied yourself. Here too the stop at the souvenir shops or to buy a snack becomes a must. Then quickly (as well we might say) towards Lake Ashi for the crossing (of some 40 minutes) of the lake aboard an improbable pirate ship (because why pirates on a lake?). Every now and then we manage, through the haze of the day, to see even the snow-capped cone of Mount Fuji, which we appreciate more from a distance than when we went up on it...the trip on the lake is pleasant and we see numerous thermal spa resorts along the shores, some of which seem to be quite luxurious.

Having reached our destination we take our bus to go to Odawara station where we decide to take the train and save ourselves the return by coach. The Shinkansen experience is interesting and the speed reached is truly impressive. In about 30 minutes we are at Tokyo Central Station. The only flaw is that they gave us tickets without a reservation and we had no small difficulty finding two seats considering the time of the return towards Tokyo of the business commuters....something interesting to note on these trains: 1. Presence of a wi-fi network for internet connection 2. Ban on using mobile phones. Obligation to use vibracall and above all conversations must be held only between one carriage and another so as not to disturb the other travellers! 3.

No one makes a sound and no one talks! You can't hear a pin drop, only the clatter of the laptop keyboards disturbs the hiss of the 300 km/h 4. Unfortunately there are smoking carriages which I advise you to avoid carefully to avoid dying of suffocation! The trip with Grey Line can also be done without lunch and with a return by coach as for the outward journey: in this case instead of 16,000 yen you will pay 13,000 yen, that is 120€ (instead of 150€). We liked the return by train also because we gained a lot of time, arriving in Tokyo before 18, but we would certainly have avoided that farcical lunch!!