This was another company-sponsored bus tour and has become an annual thing now, and like before when we went to Shosenkyo Gorge in Yamanashi and Umihotaru among other places in Chiba, everything was pre-arranged. Here's our itinerary for this trip.
08:00 - Departure from Shin-yokohama
09:20 - Lake Ashi Cruise & Mt. Komagatake Ropeway (芦ノ湖遊覧船＆駒ヶ岳ロープウェー)
11:00 - Lunch at Hako-en (箱根園)
- Oshinohakkai (忍野八海)
- Mt. Fuji 5th Station (富士五合目)
15:00 - Grapes picking in Miharashi-en Farm (ぶどう狩り 見晴し園にて)
- Winery (ワイナリー)
19:30 - Arrival at Shin-yokohama
From that itinerary, we were not able to go to Oshinohakkai because of time constraints, and everything happened so fast that some of our stops were quite short. Anyway, the weather was also not what we expected, especially during the cruise and ropeway part.
First stop was the Lake Ashi Cruise to Mt. Komagatake Ropeway. Don't be fooled by the word "cruise", as it is just a short ride from the bus parking across the lake to the ropeway terminus. When we got to the top of Mt. Komagatake, there were already snow and the visibility was so poor that we didn't see any of the view that we were expecting. The forecast was clear, but it was a little bit of a disappointment.
Hako-en was near the bus parking, so after the ropeway ride, we were able to have our lunch immediately. Our lunch that day was kamameshi (釜飯), which is rice, meat, and vegetables served in a small pot. After the quick lunch, we were on our way to the 5th station of Mt. Fuji, where the climbers usually start their hike to the top of Japan's highest mountain.
After Mt. Fuji, we had to go to Yamanashi prefecture from Kanagawa prefecture for the grapes picking and the winery. When our bus arrived at the farm, we had to take a mini-bus to the actual place where they grow their grapes. We were given 30 minutes to eat all the grapes we wanted, but if we wanted to take home some, we had to pay JPY1,200 for 3 bundles. The winery was just 5 minutes away from the grapes farm, and the actual place was named Fujicco Winery. We were able to try various wines for free, and those who liked them bought some bottles of wines. For my wife and I, we got a bottle of Kiwi wine, a bottle of pure apple juice, and a bottle of Japan's 2nd best red wine of 2012. It was already dark when we left the winery to go back to Yokohama.
