I took an ITT tour on Monday. The tour had four points of interest. Because we were heading to Mt. Fuji, we left at 5:00am. Given the beautiful weather, it was totally worth it! Honestly, the weather today could not have been more perfect. Mt. Fuji was visible all day. Here was the route to get to the first stop.
1. Open Air Museum
Our first stop was to the Saiko Iyashi no Sato Nenba. It was actually the same replicated village we visited when the Cummings were in town. The sky was even more clear today and the later blooming Sakura were lovely.
The carp flags were still flying from Children’s Day this past Friday. They made for a beautiful photo.
Both of my normal liberty buddies were busy today. I went on this trip solo. However, I was able to make friends with a mutual friend who was also traveling solo. She and I took off for a little bit of a hike. Besides a beautiful trail, we saw this guy! Japanese rat snake. Gross!
My new friend, Katie, took this picture of me – what a view!
2. Shiba-Sakura Festival
The main attraction of the tour was the Shiba-Sakura Festival also known as the Fuji Flower Carpet. The Flower Carpet is a carpet of moss phlox planted in beds all around the garden. It was stunning. And of course, crowded!
The phlox is pretty. With Mt. Fuji in the background it was amazing.
Maybe a few more pictures. It was just so beautiful. Today, I opted for grape ice cream.
I took a quick video of th Flower Park from the overlook. To help you embrace the beauty.
3. Fuji Kachōen
Our third stop was at Fuji Kachōen – “A different world of flowers and birds.” Here we were able to walk through a beautiful greenhouse and view different species of birds. The greenhouse was my favorite part.
Look at these giant begonias!
The best part of the birds was having the opportunity to “hold” an owl. “Hoo you looking at?”
4. Otodome Waterfall and Shiraito Waterfall
Our fourth and final stop was to visit the Otodome Waterfall and the Shirato Waterfall. The water from the falls is snow melt from Mt. Fuji. It takes 20 years for the melted snow to make its way to the waterfall! Here is Otodome Waterfall.
To reach Shiraito Waterfall, we walked down a short path of 100 steps.
After viewing the falls from the bottom, I walked up to the overlook. The views were worth the stairs.
It was an amazing trip. I honestly can’t believe how lucky I was with the weather today. When you visit, I hope we have luck with the weather when we visit Mt. Fuji. It was such a glorious day!