Four of us took the bus from Hakone at 8AM (one-hour ride, 23Km) on Day Three heading to Gotemba where Mt. Fuji is. We rode the ropeway (gondola) to the top of the hill offering the panoramic view of Gotemba and Mt Fuji. There are some beautiful shady trails for hikers. We did not have enough time to hike it. We also rode the bus (4400 Yen/person, R/T) to the Fifth stage of Mt. Fuji (at 2305 meters (or 6915 feet) elevation. Mt. Fuji summit is at 3771m (11,328 ft elevation) and consists of ten hiking stages. From the fifth stage, it would take avid hikers eight hours to reach the summit and three hours back down... The hiking path is quite wide but can be steep with 4300 feet gain in elevation. At 3PM, it was cold in the mid-40s'Fahrenheit… Up close, the year-round snow-capped mountain is bare this time of the year nevertheless quite majestic to look at. My wish has been fulfilled being here and was able to hike for about 20 minutes. We returned to Hakone by 8PM same day.

Link to Kyoto gallery: https://pbase.com/mic_hong/kyotooct2018