We left Kyoto on Monday evening. As there was no easy way to get to Kawaguchiko by train, we opted for an overnight bus which left Kyoto Station at 11.30 pm. It was very cold waiting at the bus stop but fortunately the bus was very warm and we managed to get some sleep. Some being the operative word. The interior of the bus had black-out curtains and imagine our surprise when we drew them back at 8.40 am in Kawaguchiko to discover 3 to 4 inches of snow and more coming down. The sky was dark with heavy grey clouds. The reason we chose to stay a couple of days here was the close proximity to Mt Fuji. But our hopes of seeing it were now dashed.
Rather than a hotel we decided to stay in a trailer with access to cooking facilities. The snow turned to rain and continued for the rest of the day and through to the next morning, which fortunately washed away most of the snow. By mid morning the rain had eased and we ventured out to the Ropeway (cable car) which ascends to a viewpoint across the lake to Mt Fuji. The mountain was obscured by a heavy layer of cloud. Surprisingly the clouds started to lift and gradually revealed the top of Mt Fuji. Although still many miles away it appeared much closer. Within 20 minutes more clouds rolled in and obscured the view completely. We were so lucky! We then had some lunch (Paul had been salivating over the option of peanut butter toast offered by a local coffee shop) and as we walked back to our trailer, it started to rain again and continued till next morning, emphasising how lucky we had been.
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Wow! How lucky you were. We are so pleased you were able to get that fantastic view. xxxx