Kawaguchiko Lake | Mt. Fuji | One-day Trip

|Japan Itinerary| 

I don’t know what got into me when I suddenly thought of taking a trip to Kawaguchiko after New Year’s Day. No plans and all that.

What’s the odds; planned or a spur-of-the-moment decision. I woke up, packed my stuff, and headed out to the station oblivious to the adventure that lies ahead. The bus station was already packed when I arrived at Shinjuku station. I bought my roundtrip tickets and waited for the boarding time. I reached Kawaguchiko station in less than two hours. Most if not all speak English in the area so I really didn’t have trouble getting around.

I decided not to take the sightseeing bus; only to regret it later, since I had a lot of time and I thought it would be more exciting to walk instead. My feet only got me to three places.

The excursion ship has a 360-degree panoramic view of Kawaguchiko and offers a 20-minute one-time ride. Kawaguchiko Natural Living Center was my next stop. I didn’t do much here since I had to rush to the station for my train.

I felt like I was at the right place at the right time when I arrived at Arakurayama Sengen Park (my third stop). That beautiful moment when you get to see Mt. Fuji as the light dramatically fades giving way for the darkness to slowly envelope the whole place. The silhouette of the majestic mountain and the city lights flickering – I paused, you should see this.

I didn’t let the sudden gush of emotion take over this moment. I sighed deeply at the thought, put down my camera, and enjoyed the spectacle that was happening before my very eyes. I headed down when the other tourists were getting ready to descend. Although I find pleasure in my own company, I didn’t stay behind since it was getting dark and the thought of bears lurking scared me. 

“Next time, I’ll be climbing you Mt. Fuji”, I thought as the bus to Shinjuku left the place I had visited so briefly.

Does the New Year mean a new you?

They say the only permanent in life is change and we should embrace it since it will help us move from A to B. 

We have this idea of creating a list of resolutions for the next year – at least in my case. Sometimes I carry them out. Most of the time, I fail to even touch what I have planned to do. So I end up thinking of the same resolutions year after year.

As we leave 2017 and face a new set of challenges, do we really become new versions of ourselves or do we need to become new us? I think the answer is on us. We decide to move on or stay stagnant; regardless of time or reason. So if you’re that person who is still stuck and mourning a failed relationship – your choice; or that employee who had been complaining about work but then stopped whining and finds a way to move past that attitude – then good for you. Whatever positions and emotions we had or have, just think that there is more to life than what we are feeling now and that life gets better.

When the clock struck 12 and ushered the coming of the New Year, I decided to just take everything in for 2018. Also, I got rid of my old resolutions but kept the doable ones. New me? No, just a change of old habits and a new strategy for the future. Happy New Year!