Mt. Fuji, Japan

You can't go to Japan and not see Mt. Fuji.
Though it's a lot more exciting in the summer/climbing season, I still had to see it for myself.

It's beautiful, yes?
Let's begin from the beginning so you know how I ended up here in the first place shall we?

I took the Fujikyu Train.
It's only one of the ways to get to Mt. Fuji, but it should really be the only way.

Huge 360 degree windows, comfortable lounge chairs, a library, and look at that baby crib!!!

Ready for the view from the train?

It's all a little confusing when you arrive at the station because, again, almost everything is in Japanese.

Walk out of the station and get in a queue for a bus.
They all take you in some direction around the lake, so you can't get too far from where you want to be.
If you realize you'd rather be going the other way just ask the driver to stop and get on the next bus heading in the opposite way.
Bring cash, no Suica cards allowed.
(A Suica card is your train ticket, vending machine money, and bus fare, among other things, in Tokyo.)

We took the bus to the last stop and made a decision to walk all the way back to the train station.
Make yourself a cup of tea, sit back, relax, and enjoy the different sides of Mt. Fuji.

We finally made it back to the train station, hours later, starved.
After a nice katsudon to warm up we were ready to get back home.

With one last look at the mountain we boarded the 3 hour train and slept the whole way back.

Cambodia: The Final Frontier

Going through my photos I realized I completely skipped over the photos we took when we went to Phnom Penh!!!

We didn't stay long, only a day.
We really wanted to go shooting bazookas but didn't have enough time.
Our bus trip from Siem Reap to Phnom Penh took about 8-10 hours (as opposed to the 5 hours we were expecting) so we lost a whole day.

[TRAVEL TIP: If you're pressed for time in a new country spend a few extra dollars and take a taxi or fly instead, this massively long bus ride cut our already short holiday even shorter.]

On our last day we woke up really early and headed to the Royal Palace so we could at least see something here.

The day we were there huge protests were going on so I'm not sure if we got to see the whole palace.
Some bits were off limits, though I wouldn't know if they're always off limits or not.

The Palace is a beautiful example of Khmer architecture.
A nice relaxing, cultural thing to do before an early afternoon flight.
[Though the temples of Siem Reap take the cake over this 10 to 1.]

TRAVEL TIP #2: Ladies (and men), make sure your shoulders and knees are covered when you go to this place.

This is really important when packing clothes for Cambodia!
You can buy some really funky, comfy (cheap) pants at the markets here that can keep you cool in the warm weather (as opposed to jeans which are thick and tight).

I had trouble finding any information on the dress code for this country so here it is:
Keep yourself covered up. (Both men and women)
No bare shoulders and no bare legs; people here are quite conservative and when you're on their turf you will do well to play by their rules.
Unless you plan on staying at your hotel the whole time you're here don't bother packing more than 1 pair of shorts and definitely no tank tops.
You're welcome.

I'm itching to fly off someplace again.
We have a huge trip planned next month... but I might sneak a shorter one off someplace before that!