Shimizu (Mount Fuji)/Japan

15.4.2024 Shimizu

In the morning the bus picked us up to take us to Mount Fuji, just over an hour away.

During a pee break, I spotted cookies with Japanese Ground Defense Forces motifs printed on them in the souvenir shop next door. Kind of weird, so I took the cookies home, which turned out to be delicious.

We reached our first destination of the day, the Chureito Pagoda. We had to fight hard to get there, either up 400 steps or along the steep access road that I preferred. I was rewarded with a great view of Mount Fuji, framed by cherry blossoms.

I arrived at the agreed meeting point on time and when our driver showed us the way to the bus, I initially followed him. Then I suddenly saw two young women in front of me, one of whom was carrying a cloth bag with "Geisenheim" printed on it. Now you have to know that I studied right next to Geisenheim and had my life-changing accident within the Geisenheim area.

So I wanted to speak to the young woman about this coincidence, but lost sight of my group. I found the place where we had gotten off, but the bus wasn't there. Now I had to let them know and ask for help. Finally, I was able to rejoin my group. Embarrassing! But nobody said a word about it.

Oishi Park is famous for its lavender fields. It is located on the largest of the lakes around Mount Fuji and offers a magnificent view of the mountain. The café there serves lavender and cherry blossom ice cream, which of course I had to try. I also bought a packet of peach cakes.

Time was running out as we had to be back by 3:45 p.m. and the traffic was pretty heavy. We just had enough time to visit a small cherry blossom festival.

At the pier we were greeted with the German hit "Da sprach der alten Häuptling der Indianer" (There spoke the old chief of the Indians) over the loudspeakers in the terminal building, which I took note of with a smile.

In the evening we were thrilled by the three attractive singers of the group "Les Femmes".