Day 1031-1041: To Tokyo, Japan

A fair outside this temple caught my attention...

Do you know what this is? The stick that this man is holding? 

This is what we use to clean out our earwax

Very considerate...

A night under the bridge...

++++ 

At McDonald for free charging facilities and wifi...
instead of Fillet-o-fish, they have ''fillet-o-shrimps''...

I prefer the latter

The vending machine that make noodles, fried rice, chips etc... wow wow
Basically it heats up the frozen food stored in this machine for you

Hiding from the wind

++++

The air smells of onions

Casual conversation with the staffs at the convenient store who got too impressed for what I'm doing and before we part I was given chocolate for good luck on the road

It look too calm in this photo but I was trying so hard to shield from the wind that night
You'll almost always find nice flat spot to camp next to cycle path along the river

++++ 

Ohhhh... Mt Fuji

Bargain!

Another sweet signage...

I've probably been thinking hard enough in my brain complaining that fruits are expensive that today I was stopped by a mum who just finished her shopping, gave me a bag of mandarins. Yeah!

 

Just enjoying my Mt Fuji view from my tent

++++ 

It was dark by the time I reached the top close to 1500m... temperature dropped to -10deg (maybe more later in the night) and I looked at the side of the road covered in snow...yes or no I thought and my brain shouts nooooo so I picked up speed again constantly trying to wiggle my fingers and toes hoping they are still there and tremble my way down to about 800m, to where I'll find some comfort... All I remembered was it was freezing cold that night and I was happily tuck under thick warm duvet with blasting heater... yes I am no hardcore, no, not tonigh!

++++

Waking up to a beautiful day, I went on a round the lake easy ride and just couldn't take my eyes off the mountain... wished I could do the trek but they are only open in the summer.. then I was told it will be packed with lots of visitors and its usually cloudy where you won't see the peak like this.
So I thought perhaps, perhaps winter is not a bad season to be here..

Lake Kawaguchi

BingBing wants a shot with Mt Fuji too

Stopping at a well known place to eat Houtou

The speciality of this region - Houtou noodle stewed with vegetables in season.. its like a flatten, broader version of udon but udon is pre-boiled while this noodle is cooked together with the vegetables and broth... guessed what else I found on their menu - Horse sashimi... I love sashimi but there is no way I can stomach horse sashimi...no way

Adding special spice to the noodle

It about 20km round the lake and its easy to find a quiet spot to enjoy the view.. way better than those designated spot crowded with tourists taking turns to take photos

This is a tourist spot... came round here for toilet break and free wifi, hoping to stream Mt Fuji live to my family 😁 

You can easily bike to Lake Saiko which is not far from Lake Kawaguchiko

Saiko Iyashino Sato Nenba, a restored thatched house village with Mt Fuji in the back drop

The living area in the house

I'm a Fan of thatched roof

Ice festival takes place at Mori park nearby every year and its free

Freshly made mochi are soooooooooo yummy!

Hot piping rice cooked with fish on top

Fuji apple... one of my favourite but I just couldn't bring myself to pay 300yen for just one.

The map shows a road... where is the road?
Luckily my bike wasn't loaded

Perfect weather to chill by the lake.. its off climbing season so its not busy... almost always get a clear sky up here that I don't really want to go back down to sea level

++++

The steps leading up to Chureito Pagoda

Lots of other hiking opportunities in this area
Picked this straight forward loop hike near the Pagoda

Getting slippery on the icy path... local folks coming down told me to be careful

It shouldn't be a long hike but because of the snow and ice at the top and other side of the mountain, descending was abit tricky and occasionally help with a rope is required.... no wonder others went up and down the same way rather taking a look hike
quite an adventure and glad I didn't slip and roll down the mountain

Quiet streets on a Sunday

The gate you'll pass through on your way to climb Mt Fuji

Okonomiyaki & Takoyaki making Party at the hostel.... bonus? 1.8L of sake... in the end its just me, a german, an english guy and another staff finishing up the sake 😆

Here's the recipe

Beer - Mt Fuji's version

Plum wine

There was fireworks display on our Lunar New Year (actually every weekend at Kawaguchi lake) and I'll just pretend they are celebrating Chinese New Year with me

++++

 Lake Yamanakako

Unusual cloudy day when I left

 Filling up my bottles with Fuji's water at the road station before leaving
its around here (35.458495, 138.802188)

While rolling up and down towards Tokyo, I met Nobu and Yuko who stopped me along the road.. Yuko invited to stay for a night at her son's house nearby as she feels sleeping outside in a tent is too cold and asked to follow their car home ''nearby''.. in the end it took us 3hrs *sweat*, well thats because I was rolling up and down on my bicycle trying my best to not lost sight of their car.

Then we went out for a sumptuous dinner

After breakfast the next day, Yuko even made me lunch to take on the road... love my set meal :)