Golden Week 2019 in Yamanashi🎏

Edit: Went to this place and wrote this a year ago but never really published it for some reason. Now, I’m too lazy to edit stuff I’ve written so please do me a favor and keep in mind that this is me talking from a year ago hahahaha! Thank you!😆

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It's not a secret that Japan recently changed its emperor and with it came a change in the era name from Heisei to Reiwa. Along with those changes was an extension of Golden Week, from a series of four national holidays in a week (that is usually extended to a week)... to ten days! Yay! Of course being the go-getter (more like the vacation-getter lol) that I am, I took advantage of it and went to one of my go-to prefectures near Tokyo... Yamanashi! It is probably my most-visited place outside Tokyo but what made it different from all my other visits was that this time, I was with the beau's family. *confetti* Also, in spite of my numerous Yamanashi visits, most of the places we went to were my firsts~ So let's start this travelog of some sort, shall we?

Right! We stayed for 3 days and 2 nights there. The beau and I rode the train/s from Tachikawa to Kawaguchiko in Yamanashi which set us back ¥3,000~ each. The beau's family went by bus from Shinjuku since they came from Narita Airport. I would recommend buses if you have big luggages and if you have time. If you're traveling light and you want lesser travel time, then go for the train.

The beau and I arrived past 5PM at Kawaguchiko Station and of course, I had to get my ultimate soft cream fave- shingen mochi soft cream!!! It is sold in the cafe right inside Kawaguchiko Station. After the soft cream fix, the beau and I headed to the place we rented via Airbnb and waited for his family to arrive. It was raining so we really couldn't wait for anywhere else. The station has a waiting area with seats but then since it's Golden Week, lots of people were there. Good thing the place was just around 10min by foot. You might wanna keep that in mind when you travel to and in Japan during holidays. It really gets packed, like packed packed heh~

So yup, that was Day 1 lol. Nothing much done except for settling in the Airbnb and planning for the places we'll go.

Day 2 began with a very beautiful view of Mt. Fuji from the window. I think I've said it before, but take a snapshot or snapshotsss right away if you ever see it in full cos most of the time it hides behind large masses of clouds! Anyway, our first stop was the Fuji Shibasakura Festival and for that, we got a ¥2,000 combo ticket inclusive of the entrance fee and roundtrip bus fare. During the shibasakura/moss phlox season, there's a small kiosk right outside Kawaguchiko Station.

After 30minutes or so, I was presented with this view! Yassss for Reiwa colors in moss phlox/shibasakura form!!! Unfortunately, Mt. Fuji was shy that time so yup, no Mt. Fuji x shibasakura photo was taken.

It was a big place to roam around and there were other flowers except for the shibasakura. There were a few food and souvenir stores inside but not a single vending machine (which came off weird to me cos they are everywhere in Japan so there should be one, at least ). I found one outside the entrance while waiting for our bus back to Kawaguchiko Station. So yeah, you might wanna consider bringing your own drink if you ever go.

Next stop was Fujiyama Onsen aka my fave onsen (cos I have been there multiple times and recommended it to multiple people lol). Please take note that tattoos are not allowed in this onsen. Taking photos inside the public bath house itself is prohibited but in other areas of the vicinity, it’s fine. There are massage chairs, rest areas, and a restaurant, too. Below was my yummy ebi fry dinner! It rained again so I guess it was a perfect way to end the day before heading back to our Airbnb.

Day 3 and also our last day in Yamanashi. We checked out of the Airbnb and was again greeted by Mt. Fuji. Since we still wanted to roam around, we put our bags in coin lockers. There are a couple of them in Kawaguchiko Station but it gets occupied easily. Good thing there were coin lockers in front of 7-11 near Kawaguchiko Station, too. This set us back ¥400 to ¥500 (bigger lockers for suitcases).

We then went to Saiko Iyashino-Sato Nenba/Healing Village and enjoyed every reconstructed traditional house as much as we can. Each of the 20 thatched roof houses has something unique (from kendama to glassworks and more) to offer so I recommend this for those who'll be visiting Yamanasahi for the first time. There's an entrance fee of ¥350 for adults/¥300 children and it's open all year round!

Last but not the least, we impulsively went to Kawaguchiko Herb Garden to kinda see what's in it for us. I ended up buying ice cream, edible flowers, and a lavender pillow. How random lol???

Just across the street is Kawaguchiko/ Lake Kawaguchi so I sat down (and wept... we can be friends if you get this reference lol). Kidding, I just sat down and savored the brief silence and the nice view. Ain't that a beautiful ending for a trip? ♡

Hope you had fun browsing! Any recos to where I should go for the next Golden Week? I know it's still too early to ask but the early bird catches the fat worm, am I right? *wink*

Another edit: Right now I’m stuck at home being a responsible citizen and quarantining. No Golden Week for me this 2020 but I’d rather stay home than contract covid-19. I hope my fellow citizens are staying home as well (as much as possible) during this Golden Week. Please don’t risk your health and other people’s health in exchange for a few days of vacation/travel. Thank you very much and take care! We will get through this!♡ But yup, I still need recos on where to go next Golden Week (2021)! 

xx,
Alyssa