Onward to the second leg of our Japan Adventure - still on Celebrity Millennium for 11 more days. Our first stop was Shimizu, putting us close to Mt. Fuji, which we saw as we sailed into port in the morning. We took a cruise line excursion to Hakone National Park and Lake Ashi, in the hopes of getting a closeup look at Mt. Fuji. Our first stop was at the Owakundi Ropeway Station to view the volcanic zone with a number of steam vents and bubbling pools. You could really smell the sulfurous gases due to recent volcanic activity, at time the fumes were very strong. We then took the ropeway down to Lake Ashi for our “pirate ship” cruise across the lake. On a good day, it provides an excellent view of Mt. Fuji. I guess we didn’t have a good day – ‘cause we didn’t see the mountain at all. Oh, well, at least we got a glimpse of it in the morning. It was a nice relaxing bus ride there and back to the ship, through some of the first countryside we had seen.
We soon learned that the Japanese love a good viewing Ferris Wheel. This one was next to the pier.
The mountainside, plumbed to bring the steam and hot gases down to the baths in the town.
It looked like gas had been spewing from the mountainside for a long time. When we were there, the fumes were very strong - some people found it difficult to take the fumes.
Our ropeway gondola down the mountain. Turns out the Japanese also love a good ropeway too.
Our pirate ship awaits for our cruise across the lake.
No views of Mt. Fuji today, so this will have to do. (It's a private ropeway for residents of a development close to the lake.)
A close-up of our pirate ship tour boat.
Returning to the ship, I managed to snap a quick pic of some local performers leaving the ship after a matinee show (that we missed).
NEXT: (Day 3) Kobe, Japan
Prev: (Day 13) Hakodate, Japan
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