On Tuesday, I skipped class to meet up with Raine. I haven't seen her in two years because she left for London to continue her studies. The last time I saw her was back in Singapore before I left for Japan in 2013.
We met up at Tachikawa Station and made our way to Kawaguchiko Station, we met up with another friend, Ryuu, along the way. It took about 2 hours to get to Kawaguchiko and the weather was really gloomy that day, dark clouds and a little rain. The way there was nice because of the scenery, such a sucker for nature but right down to the core, I am still a city girl.
This letter on the mountains was spotted along the way.
We had to change trains several times to get to Kawaguchiko station, we got off at Takao and got on another train to Otsuki. The train we rode from Otsuki was cute, it was decorated with Thomas and Friends, even the interiors were nicely decorated. We got some food and were on our way to Kawaguchiko.
*photo heavy*
It took about another hour to get there. It passed by FujiQ as well, and I really wanted to go but my friends are scared of rollercoasters so... nevermind. I will drag the next person who visits Japan to go with me (probably my sister). When we finally got to our destination, there was a cute train decorated with cartoon versions of Mount Fuji.
It was raining even harder, so we couldn't really do much. Ryuu called the Ryokan to pick us up from the station. The Ryokan we were staying at was old. (I did not choose it). It reminded me of those hotels from a horror movie and next to a lake? Yup. It was warm and cosy though, and we could see the lake from our room so it was nice. Since we couldn't do anything because of the weather, we just walked down to the lake and the conbini to get some stuff and went to get something small to eat.
Okay, I ended up getting an actual meal because I was starving. I got Hoto (pictured above) because its a specialty of Yamanashi. It's flat udon with miso based soup, with tons of vegetables. It was really yummy, and since I love udon so much, I was really happy. After our pre-dinner, we went to get some souvenir and made our way back to the hotel for dinner.
We went to the dining hall for dinner and we were the only ones there. It was a really quiet night other than the sound of the hotel staff fixing our meal, it was absolute silence in the dining hall. It really seemed like we were in a horror movie.
We still enjoyed dinner nonetheless. I haven't had a traditional Japanese in a long long time and have been craving for it lately so I was really glad to have this. They served us fruits after we were done. After dinner, we chilled in our room by watching television. I went for a walk under the rain to the conbini again to get some ice-cream.
When I got back, Raine and Ryuu decided to go to the onsen and suggested we go late at night so we can have the whole place to ourselves. We went to the onsen at about midnight and it was empty. It was nice to soak in the hot water after getting caught in the rain and with the sound droplets hitting the ground outside. The rain got heavier at night because of the typhoon. We spent about an hour at the onsen and went back to our room to bum around some more before going to sleep. As usual, I'm always the last one to fall asleep. I was on the phone till about 5am.
August 26th, 2015
Raine woke me up at about 8am for breakfast. The rain finally cleared up and it was partly cloudy with a little sunshine here and there. I just brushed my teeth, combed my hair a little and put on some decent clothes to go to the dining hall. Breakfast was nice because... I love traditional Japanese breakfast! I used have it everyday whenever I was in Japan for a holiday (before I decided to live here). I've missed it.
I went back to the room right after breakfast to wash up and pack up. We checked out at about 10am, and the ryokan's staff drove us to the station. I actually brought my textbooks and class notes with me and was planning to go to class but with the weather being so good, and also watching the news that Tokyo was raining, I decided to stay and do some sightseeing. (I mean, I already came all the way right?)
After putting our bags in the lockers, we were at the Tourist Information kiosk deciding on where to go. We decided to go to Oshino Hakkai. Since there was still some time to kill before boarding the bus, we got smoothies from somewhere nearby. The smoothies were soooo goood. We finally boarded the bus at 11 and it took about half an hour to get to our destination.
It was quite crowded when we arrived, it was tolerable. There were 8 ponds at Oshino Hakkai and the ponds are actually quite interesting because they were deep and the water was so clear, you can see aquatic plants and many fishes by just standing next to it.
This is apparently blessed by pilgrims a couple of hundred years ago and the water is supposed to be holy. The sign said if you soak your hands for 30 seconds in the water, it will give you good luck. I tried for like 10 seconds only because it was freezing!
This is probably the main area tourists gather. We decided to walk further down to somewhere that is less crowded.
Looking back at photos now, I am amazed at the amount of green there is. I normally travel around Autumn or Winter because I hate summer, so this trip was a nice change. We just aimlessly walked around and it led us to other ponds. There was nothing interesting but there was one pond that I really liked.
I forgot the name of this pond but the color of the water at the deeper part of it is really pretty. Also, when I saw this I immediately thought that it looked like a portal to another world. I was pretty much staring at this for a good 15 minutes.
There was nothing much left to do, so we just walked around some more. I really loved how I could see so many small mountains almost from any you went. I really wanted to go on a trip like this for quite a while now to get my mind off things but there was no one to go with. So I guess, it's safe to say that Raine coming back to Japan was good timing.
Also, on the way out to the bus stop, there were a lot of vendors selling selling sweetcorn, dango, crafts and some other local products. The smell of some of the food was really good. Again, we had some time to kill until the next bus arrives so we walked around some more. The buses only came once every hour. I found this cute kitty on the way out too, at first I thought it was a toy until it started moving. There was a shrine nearby as well.
We took the bus back to the station and were deciding on where to go again. My friends decided to go to Aokigahara Forest (aka Suicide Forest). So, we boarded another bus and it took about an hour to get there but the view was really nice because it drove around Lake Saiyo. There were lesser and close to no people at this lake and it was really quiet. There even a little gazebo in the middle of the lake. The water was really serene. I really love looking at lakes or visiting one because lakes give off this dreamy atmosphere.
The bus drove past a Bat Cave as well, and I really wanted to go so we walked back from the last station to go to the cave. We were provided helmets incase the bats pooped on us. There weren't much people here as well. I love bats so I was pretty excited.
I couldn't take photos of the bats because it was too dark in there. There weren't many since they are nocturnal, so I only managed to spot a few but I was happy. This cave is way bigger than the one in Enoshima. You had to climb through tiny passage ways and very uneven ground to get inside. There was a ice cave and lava cave nearby as well but one of my friends who went to the ice cave before told me that it was really slippery and he lost his phone there, so I decided not to go haha.
After getting out of the cave, we went to Aokigahra Forest. It wasn't as scary as I expected it to be, it was actually quite peaceful. I watched this documentary a couple of years ago and have been wanting to come but since most people are scared of the ghost stories, no one dares to come along with me. Ryuu told me she walked through the forest once before, by herself for over an hour and nothing happened. So... I guess it's not that bad after all?
It was getting dark around 5 and it started to drizzle, so we thought it was a good idea to head back. We got back to the station at about 6pm and went for dinner. After dinner we walked around a little more and got some souvenirs before boarding the train back to Tokyo. The train was crowded on the way back because there was a Fire Matsuri going on around the area. I saw some people carrying huge torches.
I fell asleep on the later part of the jounrey back to Otsuki. It took another hour from there to get back to Tachikawa. I said bye to Raine and Ryuu and headed home. I was really tired when I got home, I was surprised that I still pushed myself to study for my kanji test the next day.
This trip was a good one but really made me miss my sister. To be honest, I only like going on trips with her because we like and want to see the same things. I can't believe it's been almost a year since the both of us went to Nagano, Matsumoto, the alps, Nagoya, Kyoto and Osaka. It still feels very recent to me.
I've been wanting to go to a lake since I watched When Marnie Was There, so I'm glad Raine decided to go to one. I actually loved that it rained on the first day we were there. The mist and gloominess did add a touch of dreaminess that I wanted to feel. Everything was exactly how I pictured it in my head. I hope to go on more trips as I live in Japan. (We don't have any of this in Singapore and it will be a long time until I go back to Australia... so.)
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