Mt. Fuji and the long trip to Osaka - Part III

8th, April 2013 - Day 4
Our bus are scheduled to depart from Shinjuku station to Kawaguchiko station (Mt Fuji) at 1000hours. We took a bit later bus instead early in the morning to avoid morning rush on the Tokyo subway. Seats are numbered and it took us about 1hour 45minutes to reach Kawaguchiko. Reaching Kawaguchiko, you can simply get all the information at the tourist centre located at the station itself. Purchased the Retro bus pass (JPY1000 for two day use) and we are ready to go. The view was simply amazing, even from the bus. We stopped at stop no.14 (refer to the link below for the route map) to view the majestic Mt Fuji & Lake Kawaguchiko.

The weather today was simply awesome! Clear blues sky, although it was very windy and chill. Lucky us, because cherry sakura are still in full blossom here. As we ended up by the little park by the lake, we had our lunch! Mt Tenjosan cable car was closed on that day due to the very strong wind. Time do envy us, as we couldn't make any other stop because our return bus towards Tokyo is at 3pm the same day.

We rushed back to our hostel to freshen up as we got a bus to catch later that night. We bought in advance the bus ticket towards Osaka for JPY5900 one way. Its time to leave Khaosan Tokyo Smile. It has been a pleasure staying there (we stayed in the 4 bed tatami room, shared bathroom). At first we were kind of lost on where should we go for the bus pickup (the map says the bus will pick us up by roadside nearby tokyo station, not in any bus station). The hostel staff did help us to get our direction straight and they even print out the map of the area. 

With only map in hand, we walked out Nihonbashi station (Ginza line) and try our luck. Willer express staff were wearing pink vest, handed out our small little bus ticket. It is an overnight bus from Tokyo (depart 10pm) to Osaka (arrive 7.30am). 
Willer Express bus pickup (google map 35.6781, 139.7740)

Expenses in Tokyo (5D 4N)
4N Khaosan Tokyo Smile 4-bed private shared bathroom - JPY36800 (for 4 pax)
Haneda airport to Asakusa - JPY600/person
Taxi from Ueno to Khaosan Tokyo Smile - JPY1600/cab
Tokyo Metro 1 day pass - JPY710/day
1 day meal estimate - JPY1000/day
Return express bus Tokyo to Mt Fuji - JPY3400/person
Fujikyu Retro Bus 2 day pass - JPY1000/person
One way express bus Tokyo to Osaka - JPY5900/person

Part I - goo.gl/KAGj7
Part II - goo.gl/0lBNt

Reference :
Khaosan Tokyo Smile - http://www.khaosan-tokyo.com/en/smile/rates/index.html
Keio Highway bus - http://highway-buses.jp/
Fujikyu Retro Bus - http://transportation.fujikyu.co.jp/english/gettingaround/index.html
Willer Express Bus - http://willerexpress.com