Having gained an
unexpected free vacation in Japan, I have decided to go to Yokohama in the
Kanagawa Prefecture of the Kanto Region and Fuji Five Lakes in the Yamanashi
Prefecture of the Chubu Region.
Upon arriving in Tokyo
at 10am I will catch a JR Line at Tokyo Station at 10:12am and arrive in
Yokohama at roughly 10:40am. The first sight I will see in Yokohama will be the
Sankeien Garden, which is 35 miles by bus from Yokohama Station. I can take
either the #8 or #125 to Honmoku Sankeien-mae and from there I will be able to
walk into the garden. I’ll spend a few hours there and take the bus back to
Yokohama Station at around 3:00pm. I will eat a late lunch in Yokohama at the
Minato Mirai 21 city center. After lunch, I shall take a look around the free
aquarium, Hakkeijima, and hopefully be able to pet a walrus. At dinnertime, I
can go to Queen’s Square and Landmark Plaza and browse the shops and
modern-style buildings after eating dinner. Afterwards, I want to go to the Sky
Garden Observatory in Landmark Tower to view the city. At around 8pm I will
catch a train from Yokohama to Kawaguchiko Station, which will require a few
transfers but will get me to the Fuji Five Lakes area at around 11:00pm. Near
the station is a hotel called Kawaguchiko Station Inn, which will be accepting
the last check-ins around the time I will arrive. I’ll sleep there for the
night.
In the morning, I will
wake up at around 6am and walk the Yoshida Trail to Mt. Fuji from Kawaguchiko
Station. I want to climb the 2300 meters of this trail on Mt. Fuji. It’ll take
me about six hours to ascend and about four hours to descend. I will bring a
lunch for after climbing Mt. Fuji it will be about 4pm. Next I will relax at
the Tensui Kawaguchiko Onsen nearby. After dinner I’ll give it a
rest for the remainder of the day. I’ll sleep at the Kawaguchiko Station Inn
once again. After waking up the following morning at around 9am, I’ll take a
train to Chureito Pagoda. It is accessible through a private railway from
Kawaguchiko to Shimo-Yoshida only but will take simply 13 minutes to get there.
I’ll bring a lunch again and then I shall make the journey back to Kawaguchiko
about four hours later before traveling back to Tokyo. I can catch a train at
5:10pm and arrive in Tokyo at 7:25pm after a few transfers. I can have dinner
in Tokyo before taking my flight back to America.
Using my JR pass that
my business associate gave me, most of my train trips are free. Admission to
the Sankeien Garden is 500 yen and the round trip bus ride will cost 400 yen. Admission
to the Sky Garden Observatory in Landmark Tower is 1000 yen. My trip from
Yokohama to Kawaguchiko requires four transfers, one of which is not a JR train
and therefore costs 1100 yen for me. Kawaguchiko Station Inn costs 4200 yen per
night, and I will be staying there two nights. After the trek up and down Mt.
Fuji, my relaxing stay at the Tensui Kawaguchiko Onsen will cost 1000 yen. The
private train from Kawaguchiko to Shimo-Yoshida will cost only 290 yen there
and another 290 yen back. My train trip from Kawaguchiko to Tokyo requires
three transfers, although one of the trains is not a JR railway, so it will
cost me 1100 yen. Deducting these expenses from my given 40,000 yen I will have
25,920 yen, not including my expenses for food.
