Today began with the hard struggle of choosing a perfect bike from the selection that the hostel had to offer. I chose one that I thought would be suitable, only a tad too small but with a lovely basket. Throughout the day this bike proved a little difficult. The brakes were pretty horrendous as they didn't stop me quickly enough but when I used them it took a while for the bike to get going again. It also had no gears.
But before I realised all this, we set off to grab some bananas and oranges for breakfast alongside some bread and jam. After cycling for half an hour or so we stopped and ate our breakfast beside the lake. I should add here that we decided to cycle around lake kawaguchi, the largest of the Fuji five lakes. It took us another 10 minutes to reach the half way point though so decided to move on to the neighbouring lake. They're right next to each other but the road that links them has a steep incline. And it goes on for quite a while. I walked most of it but still ended up being beautifully sweaty at the top. Luckily the second lake was further from sea level so there were no more hills for the day. May I just add here that my bike had no gears therefore I was impressed that I even got a little way up the hill on it.
The second lake (pretty sure it's called Saiko) was smaller but just as picturesque. We easily cycled half way before stopping at a bat cave. You are given a helmet and you follow a trail before entering the cave. It was a small circuit that you follow round the cave, the ceilings were even smaller. Watching someone who is over 6 foot struggle under the 2 or 3 foot ceilings was worth the 300 yen (less than £2).
We cycled back towards lake kawaguchi after the cave, looking jealously on at the people camping on the beaches, wafting their barbecue smells our way. We swiftly then moved on to find some food after only eating bananas and snacks that I had in my bag. We found a cafe where I had a blueberry and vanilla ice cream whilst looking out onto the most spectacular view of Mount Fuji. The ice cream was a soft scoop so probably full of nasty things but it was pleasant enough.
Passing our hostel, we went further round the lake, just cycling and occasionally stopping to admire the view. By this time I was very hungry so we went to a cute looking restaurant. When we walked in there was the choice of normal seats or cushions on the floor. Obviously we chose the latter. I went for tempura seafood and veg with pickles and rice and soup and a little bowl of what was like spaghetti coated in creme fraiche with cucumber running through it. Quite refreshing really. I was so full afterwards the cycle back to the hostel was a struggle. The tempura overpowered the prawns and the squid but the whitebait and a white fish that tasted like haddock kept their flavours. I'm starting to love the pickles as well, even though I can't figure out what they are. The soup was a tad strange as it had crouton type things in it but they were soggy and I only had chopsticks so I didn't know if I should drink it straight from the bowl. I'm still not sure. But the day was relaxing and I grew a little fond of that shitty bike in the end.
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