Escape from Tokyo

First time out of Tokyo, on Saturday actually. Really nice and sunny that morning, so Yoshi suggested we visit Mount Fuji. At least go soemwhere nearby with a nice view. Luckily, he's got a car, so the 3 of us got into his Golf, and of we went. As soon as we left Tokyo, the whole landscape changed, or rather appeared. Everything was suddenly green, and not just hilly, but full of moutains. Motorway going right through this. About 70% of Japan are mountains, so no surprise that everyone's crowding into the big cities. Stopped for a picknick on a lakeside, and took quite a few pictures. The climbing season hasn't started yet, the governement advises, that the mountain should only be climbed in July and August, I think, as then, there's very little or no snow. I think I'll definitely give it a go sometime in the summer. Just the altitude that can make it really hard and tiring.
My guidebook (Lonely Planet) said, that the mountain is covered in clouds almost all year except for early mornings, and maybe if you're lucky in spring or autumn, most of the time you can't see the top from a hundred meters away. But for some reason as we arrived at the lakeside, the cluds around the peak cleared off completely. Only lasted about 1 hour, and as we were about to leave, clouds started covering up the mountain, as well as everything else, and it started to rain again. Pretty lucky.
Next off to a nearby shrine, from where the trail up to mount Fuji starts. Not sure whether I want to start from there, as it's about 17 km, all the way up to almost 4K. Might take the short route, startin about halfway up the mountain.

Then we went off to some caves in the area, which have all been created by the eruptions of Fuji-San. The last one was almost 300 years ago, so hopefully it'll stay dormant , at least while I'm here. One was the Ice Cave, which was used to store ice for the emperor during the summer. I don't think they still do that anymore, he's probably got a freezer like veryone else for his caipirinhas. Although there was lots of ice still down there, so who knows...The second one was the Wind Cave, used to be used for storing ice as well as silkworm eggs.
And as if that wasn't enough we went to an Onsen, natural hotspring, kinda like a few big bathtubs, natural water what with loads of minerals coming straight from the ground. Bathe naked, men and women were seperated in this one. Sadly, the beattery of my camera was flat by this time, so no pictures of Yoshi and me in the bathtub. Next time maybe, or maybe not.
One was at about 42 degrees, the other one a bit cooler. So it's kind of like a sauna, though the others were a bit surprised when I had a cold shower afterwards. Not something the Japanese do, but otherwise I would probabaly have collapsed as soon as I got out, low blood pressure and all the rest. Pretty busy day. I'm starting to realise how the Japanese can do Europe in a week. Had some local speciality, noodles, soup etc. I think there's a different type of food evry 50 km or so, something you won't get anywhere else. Or at least not as good. I'll have to do some more travelling, and if it's just for the food!