Japan Hour Day 2: Kawaguchi-ko

We got back on the train at Atami the next day, and headed north up towards the Fuji Five Lake area via the local trains. We got out at Hachioji for a quick lunch, and were most pleased to find a C&C Curry shop just outside the station. It was almost the same inside, with free flow pickles and bar stools. Tickets were bought from the vending machine.
There was a special - 500Yen for a normal pork curry katsu. Fantastic value for money.

There was some special deal on, and since we bought 5 plates of curry katsu, we got a free pack of curry to take home.

We headed west to Otsuki, and boarded the Fuji Tozandensha, which was a touristy cable car ride going up towards Mt Fuji. We paid a supplement of 200Yen per person, but it was a pretty enjoyable ride.

The various stops enroute up to Kawaguchi-ko

The view from the train

We managed to catch a glimpse of Mt Fuji peeking out from behind the midafternoon clouds.

We decided to explore the town. Kawaguchi-ko is said to be the most touristy of the Fuji Five Lakes, which didn't bother us at all. I loved the signposts.

Looks like a 1970s sign

Finally we made it to the lake after about 10 mins walk from the train station.

The train station with Mt Fuji in the background

We booked ourselves in at an inn called Lakeland Hotel Mizunosato based entirely on internet reviews, and we were not disappointed. We could see Mount Fuji directly behind our hotel, as we found out the next morning.

We were pretty shocked when we stepped into the rooms - we thought we had booked basic tatami rooms, but were given suites instead.
With our own private bath.

And super comfortable western style beds
The view of Lake Kawaguchi from our room

It even came with sinks in the verandah

And a viewing area to sit and stare out at the lake

Tea brewing facilities in the room, with a complimentary biscuit

Tea sachets all packed and ready to be dunked in hot water
Some sort of salted seaweed, we thought, probably to go with the tea.

Our room name and number.

What the hallway looked like

And it was time for dinner. We had booked ourselves dinner for less than 3000Y per person, which was about $50. It came served in the dining hall.

First up - the appetizers.

It was a pretty good spread of different types.

Sakura tofu

Fish nabe

Sashimi

A view of all the starters

We had cold kani

The nabe was really good - extremely flavourful stock and very fresh vegetables

Chawanmushi

Braised pork - this was wonderfully soft and tasty

Tempura

A serve of steak

The carbs arrived

The soba was so-so

But the rice was great with the pork and beef

Loved this botan ebi - we got extra because the others didn't want it.

Dessert

After that we headed back to our room for snacks. We brought prawn senbei from Atami and I was really keen to try it.

We also picked up some fresh strawberries on the way.

Super nice packaging

The prawn flavour was great

Buttered scallop-flavoured Pretz! This was a bit weird though

Strawberry pocky

The view that we woke up to the next morning

And what we saw from the window on the other side of the building

Time for onsen : )

There was no one around, so it was easy to take photos

The husband sneaked this shot in the men's onsen

And it was breakfast time - it was a great buffet spread

Eggs, fish, natto, pickles, and grated yam

With rice and miso.

As well as some whitebait and grated daikon

We went for a walk around the lake and found some blossoms - we were told they were apricot blossoms.
We headed out to the Mount Kachi Kachi ropeway, for a view from the top.

The view of Mount Fuji was stunning

And after that, we headed out on to the lake for a cruise

The further we got from the shore, the easier it was to see Mt Fuji

Absolutely beautiful

And it was a well-deserved lavender and peach ice cream soft serve that awaited us back at the tourist strip

And that's it for Tokyo, over and out.