Mt. Fuji Trip: Day 4, Lake Kawaguchiko

On Saturday, we woke up at 9am and got ready to be dropped off at the Kawaguchiko station at 10am. But before we left, Hirose-san had us take pictures with a photo of Mimi-san and all of us together at a nice table. Then he gave us an omamori of Mimi-san. He was really sweet. :) Then he took us to the bus station, informed us that we could leave our luggage with a store owner across the street while we went to the lake, and gave us directions to the lake. That was SO HELPFUL! We were sad to say goodbye to him but grateful for all of his help, and his really cheap price for rooms. :)

We bought Fuji-san posters from the store owner while we left our luggage there. It was a big change from two days previous, when we were saying, "I definitely do not want to buy a poster of that mountain!! I don't want to see it ever again!" Hahaha, the disgust went away with the aching legs, although mine still feel a little sore even now.

In the souvenir store, we saw some people wearing UNC gear!! They were from Spain but had taught at UNC as TAs for two years! It was so cool to speak to them. I tried to speak in Spanish but only Japanese came out, haha. They attempted to climb Mt. Fuji the previous night but had to turn around due to weather.

Then we walked 5-10 minutes to Lake Kawaguchiko. The weather was absolutely beautiful. We ate lunch and then got some amazing lavender, vanilla, and peach ice cream. The boys got the same except grape instead of vanilla. We all agreed that the peach was the best, even though lavender was amazing too. I want to eat it again!

We remembered seeing this lake from the top of Mt. Fuji, but it was a million times more peaceful and more comfortable here. :) There were parks and happy Japanese people all over the place. We also found a number of foreigners. From the opposite side of the lake, on the bridge, we could see a picturesque view of Mt. Fuji, and suddenly we wanted tons of pictures of it instead of fearing it. :) Isn't it incredible? We still can't believe we climbed it. 

The opposite side of the lake was also incredibly beautiful, although the mountains were about half the size of Mt. Fuji. 

Here is the view of Fuji from a very peaceful park along the lake. The temperature was absolutely perfect with a cool wind. I wanted to sleep in the park so much!! 

We explored around the area, saw a neat old temple in a slightly creepy wooded area, and looked at the gift shop of the Yamanashi Gem Museum. Our bus back to Shinjuku was at 4:30pm, so we had to return to Kawaguchiko station. On our way home, we saw the Fujiyama rollercoaster again and I REALLY wanted to ride it one more time. What a perfect coaster it was.

This day was very relaxing and pleasant, just as we had hoped it would be. We reflected on what a perfect vacation trip it had been, and how lucky we all were to experience Mt. Fuji and the surrounding area with friends. It really was a once in a lifetime experience. We slept on the bus ride home and woke up in Tokyo, in a completely different but equally beautiful landscape. On our bus on the way home, this was our last view of Mt. Fuji.