Fuji-San

On my last full day in Japan, I did two things.  First, I splurged and stayed at a nicer ryokan, which was friggin' awesome.  Second, I went to see one of the most unmissable sights in Japan - Fuji-san.  It was a bit confusing to find the bus from Tokyo to a place called Kawaguchi Lake, which has a great lookout point of the mountain. I wanted to climb Mount Fuji, but many red flags advised against climbing it in winter.  I also didn't have enough time, nor was I prepared for a snowshoeing trip.

Kawaguchi was pretty much dead.  Many places were either not open, or empty.  There weren't that many people, and there was a lot of snow.  However, it was a clear day.  All the mountains and trees around the Fuji-san area were a nice break from the din of Tokyo.  I walked to the gondola that went up to the lookout.

Mount Fuji is an beautiful and epic sight to behold.  When I saw it, I realized why it was of national importance.  It is one huge-ass mountain.  It also is very wide.  None of my pictures could do it justice at all. 

Lucky nothing like this happened to me on my backpacking trip.

After I came down, I walked around Kawaguchi Lake.  It was getting really cold, and the few places that were open were closing up shop.  However, I stumbled over a nice outdoor onsen that was open.  Had it to myself for the whole time.  Excellent.

Getting back to Tokyo late because the bus was late to arrive, hot tea was waiting for me in my room.  Once I saw that, I just smiled and thought to myself that it was worth splurging on a better ryokan.

Traditional Japanese breakfast

Well, that more or less sums up my travels through Japan, HK, Macau, and Guangzhou.  It was one of my most memorable trips.  I had total control over where I wanted to go and what I wanted to do, which is the advantage of doing a solo assault.  But, next time I do Japan, I want people to come with me for sure.

Tomorrow, I go back to Vancouver for about a month.  I'm really looking forward to seeing my family and friends who I haven't seen in over 9 months! Oh, the stories I have to tell them!

I'll miss all the places that I've seen here in Asia so far.  I'll miss my colleagues that are leaving Wuhan, especially my travel buddy Nicolas.  We've traveled all over China with each other: Wuhan, Shanghai, Wudang Shan, Xi'an, Beijing and Chengdu. Our adventures together are over, but mine are not. I will have more, and perhaps find a new travel partner.

What awaits me when I come back to China in August?  I don't know.  Keep checking my blog.  It might be out of action for a while when I'm back in my native Vancouver, but rest assured, it'll be back in full swing by the time I get back to China.  Part one of my adventures in Asia are over.  Thanks for reading and have a great summer!!!