20231012 AAAA Trip - Shimizu, Japan - Mt. Fuji...sort of...

2023 Alaska, Asia, Australia, Arabian Peninsula Trip 
Day 26/105 - Shimizu, Japan - Mt. Fuji was hiding

See Mt. Fuji behind us?

The risk in booking some excursions is that there are unknowns.  Will wildlife be visible?  Will the weather cooperate?  Will someone on the excursion ruin it for everyone else?  We had one of those excursions today.

We are in Shimizu, Japan, a port south and west of Tokyo.  

We pulled in bright and early this morning.

Our excursion met at 8:15 a.m., so it was an early day.

All the photos that I have seen of Mt. Fuji had snow on the peak.  There was a mountain off the ship's bow, but no snow, so I assumed that wasn't it.  It was.  But I didn't take any photos.  Not a problem since we are heading there, right?

We headed out for the two-hour or so ride to Mt. Fuji.  

An amusement park around the corner from our dock

Our ride for the day - the sight seeing car

Anyway, we headed off in the direction of Mt. Fuji.  About an hour into the trip, we made the typical 
comfort stop" to let all of us old folks use the restroom.

Arlona gets the most amazing bathroom tech

Thing you're having a bad day?  Check this guy out - scrapped-up sides, missing mirror, flat tire, jungle sticking out of the grill...

Someone spotted these spiders - they were everywhere, spinning webs between the trees

When we left the port, Mt. Fuji was visible.  The closer we got to Mt. Fuji, the more obscured it became behind the clouds.  Eventually, we arrived at the 5th station of the climb up Mt. Fuji - the last point you can drive.  It sits at 2,023 meters above sea level.

A stunning view of Mt. Fuji

Looks legit

The trailhead where you can climb to the summit - one of four on the mountain

Our guide wanted us to not take photos of the horses as the guides will charge 500 Yen for modeling

Ha!  Got away with 1,000 Yen of material for free!

We climbed Mt. Fuji - at least for 100 yards or so...still...

See Mt. Fuji?  Neither did we!

There is a Shinto shrine at the 5th station.  We ventured in. To our untrained eye, most of the temples or shrines look very similar.

See it yet?

Still nope

The gift shop had beef potato chips - we skipped them

500 Yen for canned Mt. Fuji air

Smells like...

Our guide was funny.  She described a prayer process at the Shinto shrine where you place money in the offering box, bow deeply twice, clap your hands twice, and then pray quietly and bow deeply one more time.  She pointed out the difficulty that native Japanese speakers have with the "L" sound and that she had to work to enunciate well so she didn't tell guests to, "crap their hands twice."  Ha!

The best view of Mt. Fuji was on top of a stoplight

On the way out of the Mt. Fuji area, we drove over a “melody road. The road was chiseled with openings so that at the correct speed, the tires would create a melodic sound, recreating a song about Mt. Fuji that our guide had learned in school. It was very interesting to hear as we drove over that section of the road.

Our next stop was for a traditional Japanese lunch.

No shoes are allowed on the traditional woven mat

Lunch consisted of Misu soup, fish, noodles, mushroom rice, tofu, and tempura.

We liked some and didn't like some, but it was still a good experience

Our next stop was at the Mt. Fuji Heritage Center, dedicated to Mt. Fuji.

The shape is supposed to resemble an inverted Mt. Fuji

See Mt. Fuji yet?

Nope?  Us neither.

We walked from there to another Shinto shrine honoring Mt. Fuji.

Arlona found water

What a nice manhole cover

The shrine entrance

Shinto is claimed to recognize all languages.  For a small fee, you can buy one of these wooden wish boards, write your wish on it, and place It here.  Once a year, they are gathered and burned.  The smoke goes to the heavens where the Shinto deities will receive and grant your wishes.

Look, more water!

On our ride back to the ship, our guide handed out origami paper and gave us all a lesson on how to fold our own Mt. Fuji.  My version is on the left and Arlona’s is on the right.

Since we have an overnight stay in Shimizu, Viking brought local entertainment in for tonight – Shimizu Geigi – Japanese Geisha Show.

They performed three dances and demonstrated a Geisha game that resembled rock, paper, scissors. It involved acting out a wild tiger, a fierce warrior, or an old woman. The tiger eats the woman, the warrior slays the tiger, and the old woman (the warrior’s mother) beats the warrior.

It was an interesting performance and it is nice that Viking makes the effort to bring in local cultural performances.

Arlona caught this shot of the amusement park next to the dock before we bedded down for the night.

Tomorrow, we are taking the included tour, Stunning Vistas of Shimizu.