Japan - Hakone and Fuji

With new camera in hand, the bullet train journey to Hakone was over in no time. I read through the manual and explored the features. I've been very pleased with this new one  (Lumix DC TZ95). I's a chunk heavier than the old one, but feels much more solidly built.

First photo

Selfie panorama!

Selfie portrait. Angry Sofie.

Unimpressed Stef

Soft-focus PAt

Special effects Kiki

On the train we got our first view of Mount Fuji, only for a few minutes, but it was still a very impressive sight. It is notoriously shy with people often not seeing it at all due to cloud cover, but we were lucky and had fantastically clear views all day.

At Hakone we dropped off our bags with the hotel van and then queued for a bus (and I played more with my camera). We were there during Golden Week, a national holiday in Japan, and there were loads of people making use of the holiday from all over. The 50 minute twisty windy bus ride took us up to Lake Ashi for a picnic lunch in the sun looking at Fuji across the water.

A lovely little green spited joined the picnic.

Next we were all aboard the fake pirate ship for 30 minutes across the lake to the foot of Mt. Hakone, and another queue to get the cablecar up for more spectacular views of Fuji. Mt. Hakone is another volcano, and like Fuji is dormant, but there are sulphurous fumeroles up there that look like they are being worked to mine the sulphur or something. The construction down there might just be them cooking eggs, which are supposed to take 7 years off you.

While I was up there eating the egg,
I 'a-salt-ed' myself, but didn't press charges.

Anyway, fantastic views of Fuji there, particularly from the cablecar on the way back down, though the 90 minute queue to get back on the cablecar was a bit of a pain. All things considered, I've spent very little time stuck in queues on this entire trip, so I shouldn't complain!

Doing my good deed for the day I rescued an injured lizard or skink from the ground in amongst a horde of people and released the little blighter into the grass. Hope he survived!

Dinner that night was a special dinner at our very posh hotel. Our guide, Kiki, says that all her family and friends are very jelous that she gets to eat there. It was very interesting and in places tasty, but possibly a little too high-brow for my common tastes.