Day 4 took us to Mount Fuji. Since this was very much a last minute trip, we felt it was easier to do a bus tour. We took Japan Gray Line Bus tour (in English). They pick you up in the morning, drive to Mount Fuji (tolls in Japan are horrific -- it costs like $100 in tolls to drive anywhere). Luckily, in the morning it was a clear day. On many days, you cannot even see Mt Fuji, which of course would be a waste! So for the first few hours of the day, we had an excellent view (pictured above).

When we drove to the highest point you can in the winter (about 1400 meters high instead of 2400 meters in the summer), we go out, took some pictures. About five minutes later, the fog rolled in (see two pictures below - taken 5 minutes apart). So of course we were a lucky group for having seen Mt Fuji so clearly (in the summer a lot of times you cannot see it at all). Can you imagine coming halfway across the world, paying a lot of money to see Mt Fuji, and then missing it because of fog? So we really were lucky.

After that we went cruising on Lake Ashi, a lake formed from the explosion of Mt Hakone volcano. We went on a pirate ship and the views from up top were amazing. I'm sure it would have been more beautiful if it were sunny, but it was stunning nonetheless. We even got to sit in first class cabins (there wasn't much difference, except the first class cabins had tables, so upgrading probably was a waste of money. But these things happen on tour groups.) But I do have to say, in general we are suckers for boat rides, so I don't know if our opinion is valid :)

Next we took a cable car ride up to an area being mined for sulphur. The views from the cable car were very nice -- you could see the village below, but the fog kept it from being spectacular. The entire area is a hot springs resort area (where we didn't go -- they have a lot interesting customs regarding bathing in the hot springs, and even though they are separated into men's and women's hot springs, many mothers bring their 9-10 year old sons with them, and that's just too weird for me).

So once the cable car landed, you could see the whole mining experience. Sulphur and steam were rising out of the mining shafts. Add steam to fog and it gets very hard to see! Up there they also sell black shelled boiled eggs -- they take regular eggs, boil them in the sulphur water, which causes a reaction and turns the shells black. Supposedly, each egg adds 7 years to your life. Needless to say, we did not eat them! Many people did though, I guess its the experience because the guide said it tasted like a regular egg. Of course, before we could leave anything in Japan, there was a shrine there. The major difference with this shrine was the washing station. Most are filled withe cold/lukewarm water, but this one was fueled by the hot springs themselves. It was really interesting to see. People kept coming up to pray, which always makes me feel like we are intruding on them. After all, who wants to be photographed while you are praying?

Anyway, that was the last stop. The bus dropped some people at the train station (which was a more expensive option, why would you pay an extra $25 to take the train which is only a little faster when you can take the bus directly to your hotel and save money?).