Tokyo and the wait for Mount Fuji

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Sorry for the delayed blog entry - the computers at the Tokyo hostel don't seem to like this website much, and they really don't like uploading photos. It seems to be working now, so I'll try to write up the last three days.

As you know, we made it to Tokyo. We went the luxury-route, by paying a little extra for reserved seats on the super express nozomi bullet train, which only took two hours and twenty minutes from Kyoto to Tokyo. We tried to get pictures of it (mainly for Phil) but, because it moves so quickly, we only really got photos of white blurs. It really does move very quickly - the world just sped by! And there was so much space on it, we could just stretch out and enjoy the views (well, I enjoyed the views; Mark, of course, played on his PSP). Once we reached Tokyo, we transferred to the subway line and headed for our hostel. To be honest, it isn't in the nicest area, and the room is tiny, but it's very clean, bright, and, most importantly, quiet!

The next day - my birthday, by the way - we explored Roppongi. And Deborah, you were right; the shopping really is fantastic! They have all these weird and wonderful gadgets, toys, accessories, etc. We looked around a shop called Kiddyland - 5 floors of gadgets, toys and anime - and Mark truly was in heaven. We have decided, on our final, to do absolutely nothing just so we have the money to buy a few things! Today we did more shopping, only in Shibuya this time, where the shops are even bigger and quirkier! Every building has a huge TV screen on it, or is drenched in neon lights, and every street is heaving with hundreds of people, walking beneath an ocean of clear, plastic umbrellas.

Both our shopping days have been accompanied by grey skies and rain (and a little snow this afternoon!) but yesterday we woke up and the sun was shining. So, filled with optimism, we took two subway lines, one 2 hour train, one 15 minutes train and then one half an hour bus journey to Moto-Hakone, from where you are meant to get the perfect view of Mount Fuji. Having arrived though, we realised that our optimism had been foolish naivity; Mount Fuji was, as it is 99% of the time, covered in cloud. It was infuriating, because above us the sky was completely clear, but those clouds clustered around the mountain refused to move. Moto-Hakone was lovely though, and we walked around Lake Ashi, exploring the waterside shrines and enjoying the sunshine. Then we returned to the view of Mount Fuji and sat at the lakeside, absolutely determined to get at least one half-decent photo of the mountain. We waited, and we waited, and we waited, and lo and behold the clouds did eventually begin to move. They didn't move quickly enough for us to get a view of the whole mountain; we only got to see half of it, but it really was very beautiful, all covered in snow, with the lake glistening in front of it. And so, satisfied that the wait had not been a waste, we hiked two hours down through the hills, towards Yumoto Hakone. As it began to grow dark, we allowed ourselves the luxury of jumping on a bus for the last part of the journey to the train station, and from there headed back to noisy, busy Tokyo!

I don't know whether the computers here will let me onto this website again, and in Peru I doubt we'll have much access to the internet, so this may be the last entry for a while, so don't worry! I will update this as soon as I get the chance, and will continue to email. Hope all is well at home!

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Comments

[Deborah]

lol
Glad you liked the shopping. Please tell me you went to Loft? And took Mark to Akihabara? What did you decide to buy in the end?

[Arran]

Nice...
The area near Mt Fuji looks very beautiful (i seem to be saying that a lot), also you write a very engaging blog. Hope to hear from you soon. if not here from you when you reach the land of the free :)