Day 3 Mt. Fuji富士山

Mt. Fuji is 3,776 meters high and is the highest mountain in Japan, situated at the border of two prefectures, Shizuoka and Yamanashi. With unrivaled magnificence and a beautiful cone shape, Mt. Fuji has often been selected as the subject of paintings and literature. It is the world-famous as a symbol of Japan.

(a) Mount Fuji - It was supposed to be the highlight of the day - to view one of the most-spoken about landmark in the world. However, the weather was no good at all... Did not catch any good view of the mountain. We were told that the area near the Visitor's Centre offered one of the best views - unfortunately, it was a coat of "white" - no sign of the mountain at all. Eventually, when were reached the 5th station, a quick view - not spectacular at all. One of the biggest disappointment of the entire trip. Of course, to see from another perspective, not many people would have seen Mt Fuji in this 'state' - half seen half unseen.

Well, I ended up spending more time at the Post Office at 5th Station where there were some very unique postcards. By the way, the postcard I sent arrived before I reached home :D

Indeed, the drive up to the mountain brought me back to my trip to Bumthang, Bhutan, about 5 years ago, when we drove through layers of crowd along the mountain route.

(b) We also took the cable up one of the higher viewing points... well, what would we expect to see there? A sea of "white". A little 'compensation' is the pleasant surprise... meeting my idol...

and enjoying a piece of hot sweet potato in the cold...