Mt Fuji- Mission from Hell
Trip Start
Sep 18, 2007
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3
33
Trip End
Dec 19, 2007
Fuji, Japan
Sunday, September 23, 2007
We awoke in Kyoto with no big rush to the day. We lounged in the morning and than decided to take the Bullet train out of the city to the mountain region of Fuji. Mt Fuji is the highest peak in Japan reaching 8,766 (or close to) ft. Since we are planning to hike to base camp of Everest and Kilimanjaro in Africa, we thought it would be cool to add one more mountain to our list. Hey, it could even prepare ourselves for the next climb, right?? Well that was our intention. Andy, who was in charge of our Japan segment, heavily relied on the travel god (lonely planed) as his source of information. The book suggested to climb Mt Fuji at night to reach the summit at sunrise and than descend. According to the book there are 10 stations on the way and at some you can pay 5 dollars an hour to rest on a single mattress (it was actually 20 dollars) or 50 (really 100) a night to sleep. I was not too excited about this plan, but hey I have to let him lead the way sometimes, right??? (J/k). Anyway, so we left Kyoto, took a 3 hour train to Tokyo, changed trains to catch another train (1 hour) to another train (1 hour) to Kawaguchi-cho (entry city to Mt Fuji). Our plan was to get up to the base at night to begin hiking. We arrived in Kawaguchi-cho at 6pm, well past the last bus which lets you off at the beginning of the hike. We were determined to hike this mountain, especially since we traveled all day to get there. We ended up talking to these two Indian travelers who were also on the same mission. In the heat of the moment, we irrationally decided to pay 120 dollars to take a taxi up to the starting point. I think that I forgot to mention during this whole time that it was cold, foggy and raining to top it all off. SO anyway, we get to the start of the trail, get out our flashlights and put on our warmest clothes and start hiking
CAN I SAY WE HIKED FROM 7PM TO 7AM WITH NO SLEEP...... I can thank residency for preparing me for sleepless nights, and I guess Andy can thank his friends from Addison for making him hang out late at night... but despite that help it still was hell at the end. To sum it up, we made it to the top and it was probably one of the most difficult hikes I have been on. 6 hours up and 3 hours down in the dark, freezing outside and occasional snow. I am not sure what we were smoking when we decided that it sounded like fun, but what an accomplishment. By the time we made it to the top we were so cold, tired and miserable (around 4 am) that we could not even wait up there for the sun to rise. We started descending before sunrise to get to warmer temps. We made it back down to the bottom by 730 only to find all stores, cafes and restaurants closed. The first bus out was at 11:30 am. With absolutely no sleep and no where to go to rest or no where to eat we just about lost it. WE finally talked a taxi drive to taking us to the train station for $60 (down from 120)... crazy, that is all I can say. We got back to Tokyo, so tired and hungry. We ate a late lunch and went to bed by 7pm. That was all we say of Tokyo because today we flew to Korea.
Comments
OMG
Well at least you recovered enough to lift weights and gorge kimchi in Seoul!! Your entries are priceless and we look forward to them. Keep it up!
Love,
Bill & Teresa