Fujinomiya

This page has 3 separate sections, but they all happened on the same day. The first stop on my solo way to Fujinomiya, a city about 2 hours away in Shizuoka prefecture southeast of Hayakawa, was the weird but cool Owl/Flower park. They had flowers and about 20-25 varieties of owls. Yes, weird combination. They also had some parakeet things and like 25 emus. Anyway, for about $10 I got to walk around and look at owls and flowers, so I was happy. The owls were really cute, and most of them I had never seen before.

You can visit the Owl/Flower park homepage if you're so inclined, or you can just view the owl picture page which has shots of all the owls they have. The pages are all in Japanese, but the pictures are naturally better than mine.

Stop number two was the quite pretty lake Tanoko. Or Tanuko? I really wish I could remember the name! Anyway, it's a very pedestrian-friendly lake, and there is a very nice walking trail that goes all the way around it. You can rent bikes, take paddle boats, have a picnic, or bring your fishing table (?!) and fish all day. I chose to walk around the lake - it took a very pleasant hour at a brisk pace. Who uses the word brisk, anyway? At one spot there was a view of point Fuji which is supposed to be gorgeous at sunrise. You get a "diamond-Fuji" view: a view of the sun rising over the peak of Fuji. I got clouds, but it was still pretty.

Stop number three, and my favorite of the three, was the absolutely incredible and quite famous Shiraito Falls. Tucked in a small valley, there are innumerable waterfalls cascading down all along the edges. It was really amazing. I'll probably come back sometime, because it's not *too* far and it's really, really pretty. Shame about the crowds, but I can't really blame them.

Anyway, enjoy the photos. I capped the trip off the a journey into the town of Fujinomiya itself, which was kinda crumy. I did, however, enjoy a delicious squid and octopus yakisoba. I would've taken a picture but my battery had died by then.