Mt Fuji, Japan 24.04

We had an early start before catching the bus to Kawaguchi-ko, the lake district just below Mt Fuji. The weather was really shocking though. It was freezing, raining and cloudy, so the chairlift was closed, and we couldn't see Mt Fuji through the clouds.

We found some interesting museums that we were keen on seeing. So we decided to explore the area by bus. The next bus left in an hour, so we chilled in the hostel and put on a movie. We watched 'Kill Bill', which was quite appropriate seeing as a lot of it is set in Japan. It was so cozy in the tv room and we got so involved in the storyline that we missed the bus and caught the next one.
The bus was antique and smelled of mothballs. It was called 'Retro Bus'. The ride was beautiful as we drove by the edge of the lakes and saw the surrounding villages. It was so nice not to be out in the rain, but still to be able to see the area from the warm, dry bus. Cherry trees lined the lakes and they were still in full bloom, as the weather in this area was cooler than in Tokyo.
We got off at Saiko Iyashi No Sato, which is a replica village built in the traditional japanese village style.

Saiko Iyashi No Sato The houses had thatched roofs and in each hut there was a display to be seen.
Several of the huts had workshops in local arts and crafts, but you had to book ahead. One was on dollmaking, preparing traditional food, origami, silk weaving etc. Other houses had displays on traditional tools, history of the location and the mudslides that occured there.

One house had weapons, including samurai swords, old rifles and ancient samurai armour. We noticed that there were pictures of people dressed up, on the wall and realised we could try some of the things on! The old man that was in the hut helped Artur put on the heavy samurai armour and let him hold the samurai sword. It was so exciting. Loren got to try on a kimono, and pose with a fan and wear the traditional shoes. He didn't charge us anything to try them on, and we only paid USD 2 for admission! It was so much fun! We had a look at some of the other houses, which were selling handmade crafts of porcelain, silk, paper and homemade food items. We bought some cute little chopstick holders in the shape of a dog and cat.

Local Attractions
We took the retro bus back again, but realised that we didn't have time to get to any other museum before it closed. We went to a local family restaurant, which reminded us of an American 'diner'. There was a buzzer at each table that you rang when you wanted to order etc. It was quite clever, when you rang the buzzer, your table number came up on an electronic board. Loren discovered the buzzer system by accident while playing with things on the table :)

We were going to visit the hot springs that were located almost next to our hostel. It looked very fancy, and Loren was keen to try the traditional Japanese onsen - hot springs. Unfortunately we didn't end up visiting any during our whole trip, so it's a shame we didn't make the most of having one next door that day.

Fabulous Hostel
Instead we made the most of staying at a well-equipped hostel. Their computers were very modern, with fast internet, and even a drive for putting your camera memory card into. They also had a spotless kitchen, an indoor sitting area with dining tables as well, lots of books, games and a playstation. We were very impressed that they even had the current newspaper available each day. They even had some very comfy slippers to wear indoors :)There was also an outdoor dining area for people willing to brave the cold weather. Best of all was the TV room which had an enormous flat screen TV, and a huge collection of DVDs to watch!