Elusive Mt. Fuji

My idea for something to do over Drew's break was to go to Fuji Five Lakes to see Mt. Fuji, as I had never seen it before.  I should have known it was doomed from the start because I was the one to suggest it.  Thus far in Japan I haven't had a very good track record with actually getting to do any of the activities I've come up with.  I'm beginning to think I'm cursed.

Here is the weather we were dealing with.  Yes, those are the clouds coming down the mountains.  I have never in my whole time in Japan seen a day this cloudy.

And here is where Mt. Fuji usually stands.  Not quite as impressive when you CAN'T EVEN TELL WHERE THE MOUNTAIN IS!!!

We decided not to worry about seeing Mt. Fuji and instead explore the sights in town.  Well, turns out the bus that we bought a pass to use only ran until 5:00 pm.  Our hotel was already a good 20 min. walk from the nearest bus stop so by the time we got checked in and back to the bus it was already past 3:30 pm.  All of the attractions we were interested in were too far away to go to and risk getting stuck without a ride on such a cold night.  Therefore, we settled on getting dropped off at a stop about an hour walking distance from our hotel so that we could get some food.  

Next problem...there was no food to be found!!  Either the lights were on but nobody was inside, the hours said they were open but the lights were off, or the lights were on with people inside but said they were closed when you asked for a table.  I, unfortunately, have a little bit of a "hangry" problem (aka. angry when hungry) and was getting close to having a meltdown over not getting dinner.  We did find a rundown convenient store where we bought Oreos, Doritos, and peanut butter sandwiches just in case.

After our EXCRUCIATING LONG walk (hangry people are known to exaggerate) back to the hotel, we got the good news that we were not too late to join the other guests for dinner.  Dinner was delicious and the lobby had a wood fire going which made the whole experience very cozy.  That night we also got to use the private onsen (hot spring).  Perfect for such a cold night.  We wore the traditional robes of course.

The next morning brought us the best view of Mt. Fuji that we got the whole time we were there.  Yup, that was it.  Just a tiny peak.

While visiting we did make a trip up the rope way.  Normally this is where you get an awesome picture of you and Mt. Fuji.  Instead I just got a nice picture of Drew.

The rest of the sights turned out to be a bunch of tourist traps set up for people who came to see Mt. Fuji but weren't able to because of the weather.  We were supposed to leave around 6:00 pm that day but ended up leaving at 1:00 pm.  It was time to get out of that place!  There are other towns that have good views of Mt. Fuji that we can try next time.  I'll be letting Drew make the plan for that one...