Cherry blossom dream come true at Mt. Fuji shrine

The previous post in this series is here..

Our second stop in the Mt. Fuji area was to climb up a bill to the Arakurayama shrine and see views of the valley and Mt. Fuji from this hill top shrine.

We were told that it was a pretty hard hike. My friends son was not feeling well that morning and he braved it to this point but needed rest. So four of us went up. We promised to do our best to go as fast as we could and come back. There was a short drive from Lake Kawaguchiko to a parking lot for this shrine. We crossed a road and were faced with a bunch of steps that keep coming.

The beauty was that there were cherry blossoms everywhere at this high altitude. We thought Kyoto was our last interaction. This was mind boggling. We enjoyed the hike to the top, got to soak in some amazing views and came back down.

Here are the photos..

and a video highlight reel..

Every stop on this day was one upping the previous stop.. that in the next post..

Mt. Fuji from Lake Kawaguchiko - Japan Trip Day 7

The previous post in this series is here..

We were up and ready outside the hotel by 5:30 AM. Our Pakistani driver was very courteous and told us that every 30 minutes makes a difference. Some folks leave at 6 from Tokyo and never even get to Mt. Fuji in traffic and come back. That is why he wanted us to leave at 4:30 AM so we beat traffic both ways. He wanted to speak in HIndi but not everyone in our group was fluent in Hindi so we kept telling him to talk in English if possible and he tried his best.

We drove a good 2+ hours to lake Kawaguchiko area with beautiful views of Mt. Fuji from various angles for the last 30 minutes of the drvie. Once we parked at the first parking lot, we got to walk through a flower garden with some amazing views. Also saw a dog in the middle of the garden. Have never seen such a beautiful dog. Eventually the owner came and walked away. It was just hanging out all by itself, a sight to behold.

Photos.. didn’t even have to edit them..

Video highlights reel.

We did a photoshoot next to the flower beds and lake and drove to the next parking lot for the next stop…

Senso-ji Temple - Japan trip day 5

The previous post in this series is here.

From the Imperial palace we were dropped off at the Senso-ji temple entrance. In the middle of a busy street you get a temple entrance with a giant bell. Once you go past the bell, it is like stepping into Narnia from a cupboard. The rows of shops and the decor transport you to a different time!

The Senso-ji temple complex is beautiful. All of us prayed there the way the locals taught us. We got some ice-cream on the way back and did some shopping in the stores for candy. I tried my best to take photos without folks in them. You can see in the photos how much of a challenge it is.

There was a wedding photo shoot going on as well !! (you can see that in the photos)

A video highlight

After we walked out of the Senso-ji temple, we decided to cover the next attraction we had planned to see in Tokyo..will cover that in the next post.