Day Four- Kawaguchiko

About two hours away from Tokyo is a small town called Kawaguchiko. And in this small town called Kawaguchiko is Lake Kawaguchi. From the shores of Lake Kawaguchi, in the small town of Kawaguchiko you can get an excellent view of Mount Fuji. Or can you.

With "spectacular views of Japan's most famous natural landmark" in mind, we boarded a coach from Tokyo to Kawaguchiko. I sat in a Woman Only seat, which I was disappointed to find was not pink (it was grey, just like the rest of the coach). By the time we got off the coach, the rain was pretty torrential. After a short taxi ride (driven by a man in white gloves, as is customary for all Japanese taxis) we arrived at the hostel. K's House Mt Fuji was possibly my favourite hostel of the trip. Look at our room!

 It was a proper Japanese style room with a little table and cushions and tatami mats and futons in the cupboard. Also I felt like I was in Madame Butterfly when I stood next to the paper screen! I had reservations about sleeping pretty much on the floor but actually the futons were really comfy. We set of (in the rain) in search of food and ended up with disgusting ramen in what seemed to me like a roadside cafe. Luckily I was cheered up by the lovely signposts:

 The Japanese have a reputation for being weird. Kawaguchiko was no exception, with its monkey show. Sadly we did not have time to go, but we did appreciate the sign. My favourite is Basketball Orange Monkey in the bottom left hand corner.

 Another day, another lovely manhole cover:

 So, Lake Kawaguchi is nice. I suspect it is nicer when the sun is out but I still liked it. For a brief moment I think it stopped raining but judging by the sky in this photo, it was not for long.

 If I were to go on a boat in the rain, it would probably be in a koala bear boat. They are renowned for being water loving creatures aren't they?

 In rural Austria I always used to like the tiny roadside shrines. In Japan they are nice too. This one was by the side of the dual carriageway.

 When we had wandered for quite a while, we decided to buy a Retro Bus ticket and go for a ride to see what was round the lake. It is the most retro bus I have ever seen in my life. Seriously, I thought it was going to break. Oh, and while we were waiting for it we heard some music. Two alternating songs, one very happy, the other quite dirge like. Then I had a lightbulb moment! They must have been the happy and sad road crossing songs that Mr Boring told us about! Anyway, we got on the bus to the place that I had read about having wonderful views of Fuji-san with lavender fields in the foreground. It was quite pretty, even without the mountain.

 However... it wasn't until we had been to the gift shop and bought an ice cream from the cafe that I realised where we actually were. We were at a garden centre! I was not happy and we hot-footed it back to Kawaguchiko.
Boyo went to an Onsen that evening. I didn't think the Japanese could handle the sight of me with no clothes on so I did not go. If you want to know what it was like, I'm afraid you will have to wait until he writes a blog about it. Upon his return we decided to go for some tea. The receptionist in the hostel recommended the local speciality, Hoto. When we eventually found the restaurant, we were not disappointed:

This is Hoto:

 It is, as they say in Japan, berry derishus. The wide, flat noodles are unique to the area and it is full of vegetables such as snow peas and pumpkin. There was also something grey and spherical. Not sure that I really want to know what that was!
As the rain was so heavy, we could think of nothing better to do with the evening than to go for a drink. We ended up in the hostel bar, where we somehow ended up making origami cranes while we sipped our beer.

Emboldened by a beer, we decided to try sake. I have tried it before and when it is warm it is absolutely vile and disgusting. Cold, it is quite nice. While we were drinking it, the three local men sitting next to us at the bar started talking to us. It is amazing how much conversation you can have with a little bit of English, a TEEEEEEEEENY bit of Japanese and the names of various famous sportsmen. Boyo gained a Japanese father and was told he looked like David Beckham AND Wayne Rooney (no question as to which is more accurate, only Boyo's hair implants are less obvious) I received a marriage proposal and we were bought another round of sake. It was, all in all, pretty hilarious. Lovely lovely Japanese people.