3rd May 2012
We took normal train from Matsumoto 松本 to Kofu 国府. Right after we reached Kofu, Cissy said that it gave the feeling of Tokyo, not surprising considering that Kofu is very near to Tokyo. Then, we walked to the Mazda car rental to take our car. Then, we went to Kawaguchiko station 河口湖駅 to take brochures. The weather was really bad. Our main aim was to see Mt. Fuji in white cap, however it was hidden behind layers of cloud.
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| sculpture in front of Kofu Station 国府駅前 |
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| this "go碁" shop was just opposite the Mazda rental car, reminds me of the manga "Hikaru no go", i was so fascinated by it that I actually learnt how to play, but without the determination, I gave up soon after. |
Our first destination was Shibazakura Festival 芝桜祭り, it was a tiny flowers that grew on the ground. It would be very impressive if all the flowers were blooming. We were not at the right time, it was only around 30% blooming only. So, it was not as beautiful as the poster. Still many bare plots. We joked that they should only charged 30% of the price since the flowers that bloomed were 30% only and charged fully after all the flowers bloomed. Another down point was due to the weather condition, we couldn't see the Mt. Fuji from that location. The view of the flowers with Mt. Fuji in the background would be awesome!
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| Shibazakura Festival 芝桜祭り |
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| shibazakura 芝桜 |
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| can see the whole area on the observation deck |
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| the booming and half blooming flowers |
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| a lake amongst the shibazakura |
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| if the weather was nice, we could see the Mt. Fuji |
After that, it started to rain. So, we moved to another place. We sat in the car didn't know where to go because all our plans were natural attractions. Then, we looked into the brochures and decided to go to Narusawa ice cave 鳴沢氷穴. There was another wind cave, but we decided to skip it. Narusawa ice cave was formed from the lava from the Mt. Fuji.
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| the entrance to the ice cave |
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| the plate talks about the origin of the cave and something about praying |
The cave was known as Hell's cave because it was dangerous to be inside there. One could died if slipped here.
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| the ice cave a.k.a. Hell's cave |
The cave was full of icicles. It was really cold inside! I was shivering inside that cave. Luckily, it was a small cave, one small round finish! It was very slippery inside too! I was too cold to notice anything special about that cave or appreciated the beauty of the ice, I just took photos and left.
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| watch you steps! |
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| the icicles |
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| the long icicles |
After the ice cave adventure, we were hungry! So, we went to a really old restaurant famous for Kawaguchiko delicacy, Houdou ほうどう. It was a big bowl of noodle looks like Udon, but in bigger diameter. The portion was very big. Ashamed to say, I couldn't finish it. I think that it tasted like MeeHoonKueh 面粉糕, delicious! I liked it!
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| ☆delicious HouDou 美味しいのほうどう☆ |
After lunch, we really had no where to go because of the rain. So, we decided to go to a toy museum, called "Happy days". It exhibits the owner, Kitahara Teruhisa toy's collection for 40 years. It was so cute! Something from my parents era. I couldn't resist the allure of the toys, I bought tin train models and a tin toy robot. Then, I visited a accessories store nearby. Then, we went to a wine cellar. They produced red wine from the grapes produced in Yamanashi 山梨. I tried the sweet red wine, not bad! However, I did not buy the alcohol, I just grabbed a box of chocolate with grape filling for souvenir.
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| Fuji red wine cellar 赤富士ワインセラー |
The town central of Kawaguchiko boosts of western type buildings. The tulips were blooming. It made such a nice view!
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| tulips |
Then, we checked back the brochures we took earlier, there was a Sakura festival 桜祭り in Sozo no Mori 創造の森. So, we went there. The place of full of blooming sakura! At least it pacified our feeling for not able to see Mt. Fuji that day!
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| Sozo no Mori 創造の森 (full of blooming sakura) |
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| reading from the sakura websites, this sakura was native to Mt. Fuji area, called mamezakura 豆桜 a.k.a Fuji sakura |
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| Fuji sakura |
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| not sure what type of sakura is this |
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| weeping sakura 枝垂桜 (drooping branches) |
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| weeping sakura 枝垂桜 with the drooping branches |
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| the road lined with sakura! |
After sakura'ing, we checked into K's House Kawaguchiko. Our first dormitory style accommodation for this trip. It was very comfortable and they have many computers. After so many days without facebooking, I finally could online here. For our dinner, we ate Thai cuisine near the K's House. It was so delicious, quite authentic!
Our room-mates were college girls from China, when they found out that Tee was a man, they had a emergency meeting in the lobby, I happened to hear their conversations, it was funny! I think when they booked the room, they forgot to choose room for female only. However, their discussions ended with nothing. We slept under one roof together that night.
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| the weeping sakura in the K's House courtyard, I like the pink flowers |
Click here for my Itinerary!
Day 1 :
Hikone &
Dinosour Museum &
Ojima, Tojinbo & Eiheiji
Day 2 :
Kanazawa
Day 3 :
Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route
Day 4 :
Kusatsu Onsen & Around
Matsumoto City
Day 5 :
Kamikochi
Day 6 :
Kawaguchiko
Day 7 :
Mt. Fuji &
Around Shimizu Area
Day 8 :
Hamamatsu Matsuri 1 &
Hamamatsu Matsuri 2 &
Meiji Mura
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