Day 106: Fujiyama-rama

So there's a whisky distillery at the foot of Mt Fuji. We were looking into getting a train there and back, but it ended up being way cheaper (and incidentally way more fun) to hire a car and drive there. I've never driven a car in Japan before but hey, it couldn't be that hard, right?

We started early and picked up a little boxy k-car from the hire car place near our apartment and headed toward Mt Fuji. Now, people have always told us how expensive the tolls were but it wasn't until we did this trip ourselves did we really realise how much it adds up. Just a short 1.5 hour drive to Mt Fuji cost us nearly $40 in tolls. Good lord.

The k-car was actually really spacious and remarkably taller than expected.

We headed to Fuji Five Lakes first as there was a ropeway that took us up a small mountain. Even though it was sunny, it was freezing and as usual, Adam and I weren't prepared for the cold.

We got to the ropeway and it was closed!!! What a disappointment. We jumped back in the car, did some quick phone research and headed to a bat cave (random). Aaaand what did we find when we turned up there? It was closed too! Not a good start to the Fuji trip.

We then drove to this forest place that had a few tracks and started to walk through this quiet and a little creepy forest.

This is not what we expected we would be doing today.

After our random little hike, we headed to this old-style village for a bit of sightseeing. 

And some snacks. The grilled ayu was smoky and delicious.

The old style village with their traditional thatched roofs.

Spooky scarecrow.

Driving around the Five Lakes.

Mt Fuji was proving to be rather elusive but as we were driving to lunch, we saw him in all his glory. We quickly stopped at a FamilyMart car park to get this shot.

It was lunch time and the first place we tried to go for lunch was (surprise, surprise) closed, so we ended up at this mountain soba spot.

We were a bit unsure about this place but it ended up being so good. This was their specialty – mountain soba made with a tonne of veggies and served in a ridiculously hot iron pot. Honestly, one would have served two of us.

See, the bowls are massive.

After lunch we headed to the Fuji Gotemba distillery for a tour. We didn't expect much from this tour but it was actually really well done. They had a little movie theatre and a few interactive displays including this one where you can smell the different ingredients and characteristics.

I can't believe how many bottles come through this factory every day. 

After the tour there was the very important tasting. I was the designated driver so I got to taste some alcohol free chu hi but the guys got to sample a few whiskies. Not bad for a free tour!

After the official tasting, we moved to the bar and the guys did another sampling of their more premium whiskies. 

After stocking up on gifts from the gift store (one of my favourite part of any tour in Japan) we took some obligatory tourist photos and headed to the rooftop.

A pretty good view from the rooftop. It's a shame we couldn't have a few drinks up here.

Love this car!

We had some time left after the tour so we headed to an outlet shopping centre. To be honest, I wasn't super excited about the whole thing but when we got to Gotemba Premium Outlets I was actually really impressed by all the brands they had. If I had more money I could have easily bought a few things.

It felt a bit like a shopping theme park.

Clearly not sick of each other yet, we headed back to Tokyo and to an Okinawan restaurant in our neighbourhood. Sabani is tucked away in a narrow street and hidden within a mini-mall. It's hard to find but well worth it if you're after some great Okinawan food in Tokyo.

Rafute is Okinawan pork belly is a slow cooked pork that's one of the iconic dishes of the islands.

Awamori is Okinawan liquor and will get. you. drunk. Proceed with caution.

Keep an eye out for the shisa (the traditional Okinawan lion/dog). See these guys and you know you're close to the Okinawan restaurant.