Mount Fuji

You'd have thought Mount Fuji would be easy to find due to its huge size, but it was harder than first anticipated. There were five of us travelling to this Japanese landmark, and we had planned the route the night before, safe in the knowledge that we would arrive at the foot of Mount Fuji in the morning. This was the best time to see it before the afternoon clouds submerged the view. We were therefore somewhat surprised to be driving along the highways two hours after our estimated time of arrival. The road signs gave no indication that Mount Fuji was in the vicinity, so we were clueless as to our surroundings. The other teachers in the car were getting restless as we guessed the whereabouts of the great mountain. We continued to drive along the roads surrounded by green hills and valleys. But there was no sign of Fuji.
"Perhaps it's nipped off to get some coffee," I helpfully suggested.


Just before we all started to get irritable, Fuji suddenly flashed into our sights as we turned the corner of a road. Each of us in the car made a cooing “ooooooooh” sound emphasizing the impact the grand view had on us. Fuji stood aloft over the landscape without a cloud encroaching on its space. This created a scramble inside the car as we attempted to take photographs from the car. The nearer we approached, the closer the clouds swirled around the mountain. Instead of being a hindrance to the view, the clouds made for a more mysterious and magical sight, which created even more of a scramble inside the car for a photo.
We drove to Fujiyoshida, one of the five lakes that surround Fuji, and walked to a lift that would whisk us to the top of a lookout area. As we waited in the queue for the lift we noticed a series of pictures depicting a rabbit and a gopher fighting as they climbed Mount Fuji. We fathomed that these must be some strange Fuji mascot to entertain the kids that visit the area. Although I'm not sure it was sending out the right message because the pictures depicted extreme violence, with the homicidal rabbit always beating the rather dim gopher. These strange pictures were quickly forgotten as we all crushed into the tiny lift and ascended a slope. The view of Fujiyoshida was spectacular, and the clear blue skies suggested we were lucky to pick this day to go Mount Fuji spotting. Although the blue skies were an illusion because when we got the top and wandered around the lookout platform, the clouds had covered the roof of Fuji. We lingered about at this look-out place for a while, hoping that the clouds would depart, but they never did. Without the grand view of Fuji to look at, we resorted to deciphering the meaning of a strange model in the centre of the lookout point that depicted the homicidal rabbit mounting the dim gopher from behind in what looked like a sexual tryst. Bored of the heavy clouds blocking our view and of the amorous rabbit and gopher, we made our way back down the slope and to our car. After a few minutes of debate, we decided on seeing Lake Kawaguchi because we had read in our rough guides that this was one of the most sumptuous beauty spots in the area. Our rough guides weren't wrong because it was an amazing lake surrounded by verdant mountains and populated with fishermen. As we strolled along the outskirts of the lake, my Nikon camera was rumbling excitedly in my bag, desperate to be let loose in the area. I agreed to its plea and spent much of the afternoon hopping along the rocks surrounding the lake and taking snaps.


As the sun was setting behind the mountains, we decided that there was still time to do one more thing before we hit the road home. Reuben, Russ, Anthony, Martin and myself browsed over a tourist map and simultaneously pointed to the same spot which read: Seiko Bat Cave.
A normal bat cave is incredibly exciting in itself, but the fact that it was a Seiko (pronounced 'psycho') bat cave made it sound even better. But the reason behind the name is less than thrilling. It's called Seiko because it is in the town of Seiko. I was hoping it was because the bats were crazy.


Ten minutes later we arrived at the ticket entrance to the caves and were instructed to wear hard-helmets because the caves were low and spiked with stalactites. After securing on our hats we entered the cave and spent a good half an hour exploring the area but we encountered no Seiko bats. We eventually gave up and confronted the ticket officer outside about the absence of the bats.
"Ha ha ha. The bats come in November. This is the wrong season. No bats now. Ha ha ha," he said.
We didn't see the funny side after spending an hour trekking in a stinky cavern covered in bat shit, when he could have informed us beforehand about our pointless trek.
On our way back home, we noticed a line of parked cars at the side of the road. In order to inspect why this was so, we slowed the car down and saw a serene lake with Mount Fuji looming behind it in the background. This little cove wasn't in any of our guide books which made it even more rewarding for us to discover. The sun was setting by this point and the clouds had dispersed. Needless to say, the view in front of us was incredible. I insisted on a photo of me in comedic mode, whereby the photo would look like I was holding Fuji. I also insisted of me in smiley mode, whereby I stood to the side of Fuji and grinned like an idiot. And I wanted a photo of me in thinking mode, whereby I squatted down and looked ruminatively towards Fuji.
It was telling that the best photo I took was the one without me in it.