Started off with shopping in the early noon of 21st for supplies for the hike. This is where the 100yen shops in Japan get really useful. You can buy lots of things in the shop, all at 100yen only~ I got like 4 torches because each torch can supposedly last me 40mins only.. haha.. bought like 6Litres of water to bring up cuz, kanashii koto ni (sadly), I was suffering from sorethroat that day. Got some snickers bar and a few onigiris (riceballs) to 充饥 when I feel hungry during the hike. Oh oh, had to get black tape too.. haha.. cuz had to tape the torches to my backpack, army style.. keke..
After meeting sai, leona, minchu, and ian at Shinjuku west bus terminal, the bus reached the 5th station of Mount Fuji around 8pm in the eve. Usually, hikers began on the 5th station instead of starting from the very bottom. By the time we reached there, most of the shops were closed and we weren’t really able to get any proper dinner. After dilly-dallying at a shop for close to an hr.. we finally braced ourselves and started the long arduous journey.
b4 moving off~The road was absolutely pitch-dark so I was relieved that I did indeed get torches in the end. Well, if u dun have one, make sure 75% of the grp u r going with each has one. But I still recommend a torch for each individual cuz many times, the route during the hike only permits one person at a time and tts y even then, ur friends will find it really tough to shine the way for u.
The journey from the 5th to the 6th station was relatively short and not so difficult. Of cuz, there were some parts of the slope that were steep, but the main problem was trying to stay within the path because as it was so dark, you cant really tell where the edge of the cliff is.
on the 6th station~The next few stations were really tough. Some parts we encountered steep slopes with soft sand such that everytime we took a step forward, we fall half a step back. haha.. It was so exhausting and puts a real strain on ur calves. And there were some parts where we practically had to climb up the rocks that it somehow resembled rock-climbing by now. The only difference is this time, you aren’t suspended by a safety rope. =p Well. Ok lah.. the slope isn’t vertical like the rock climbing walls we hav in Singapore, it slants more so not too bad ba. I love these types more, because I find it so much more easier to climb with a solid foothold, and its so exciting at times. It’s actually not that dangerous you know, the only danger you have is knocking ur knees against high rocks (like minchu and me), or breaking ur pretty nails like sai~ =p
nearing 8th station~The hike from stations to stations was littered with small huts, with area for people to catch their breath and take a rest. I find it very gd because it provides motivation to people as they form smaller goals for people climbing.. instead of saying, “4hrs to the top~”, they can break down the distance into smaller timings.. and say like “only 30mins to the next hut” and slowly slowly the goal of ascending the submit would be achieved subconsciously. Not only that, these huts provide stamping services! Most people who climb Mt fuji usually bring/buy a stick to use as a kind of a walking stick. So at the various huts, they will imprint a symbol that you have been pass there b4, of cuz not w/o a price of 200yen each. Although only sai and I din get the pole, only Leona was keen on collecting them and looking at her pole after the hike, I have to say that her stick looks really impressive with all the stamps on it. It just looked so pretty. =)
not leona's stick.. its just how the stamps look like..What else was how beautiful the sky was.. it was beyond imagination. The clear dark blue sky was filled with plenty of stars.. plus the moon was so clear and near.. the night view was just so pretty. Also, along the way, because of the amt of people climbing mount fuji, and since almost all of them have torches of their own lighted up, when u look up the mountain, the long procession of lights was just amazing! I tried to capture it on my camera, but apparently, it doesn’t turn out as nice. guess there are some things u must experience first-hand to fully appreciate its beauty. =)
aww... poor thing~But the long procession got really crowded and almost non-moving towards the summit of the mountain. We were scheduled to reach the summit in time for actual sunrise, but I was kind of panicking during the last stretch cuz we seemed so far away and dawn was breaking already.
dawn brEaking~To the extent I was abit piss with ian lah.. haha.. abt halfway from the journey up, he keep complaining he cant take it lah.. need lots of rest and being negative abt the climb. I pushed him throughout the 2nd half of the climb, giving him encouragement lah.. but towards the end, when the summit was in view, he keep saying he wanna give up liao, at that time dawn breaking liao and I was kinda panicking, so my patience wasn’t really tt great anymore, but I just keep pushing him. I just dun understand, I mean, Leona and minchu hasn’t complain abit, although sai was like very tired liao, but she also pushed on w/o complaining. But I guess he isn’t really that into sports ba.. plus he got status for army .. maybe that’s why ba..
Although the climb was like tough and dirty, cold and rough, it was all worth it when dawn broke and when the sun rose. Lucky we made it just in time.. else I would have kicked ian down the mountain.. haha.. but the scene was really beyond description. Shall just let pics do the talking for me..
sun rising~
coming out~
just abit more~
sunrise!!!
faNtaStic viEw~
bEautifuL mouNtaiNs iN tHe cLouds~
prEtty sKy~
iaN n mE~
suNrisE tRio~
kuNgfu maStEr~
dueLLing dual~But as always, once u enjoyed the most beautiful part, whatever comes after that is down. As we made our way down, I was cursing n swearing almost every min. The path down was, not the same as how we came up definitely.. go down by the way we come up, with so many close-to-vertical-climb-cliffs, I think we will just fall to our deaths. haha.. the way down was simple enough, but extremely tedious, no less. The slopes were relatively steep, but what’s worst abt the terrain was that it was very slippery. Every step out has a 50% chance of making u slip and fall on ur big fat bottom. Haha..
sittiNg oN tHe cLouds~And it wasn’t helped with ian’s height phobia. When we just began our descent, he din even dare to move an inch because the route which we were taking has no barricades along the cliffs. I almost had to drag him along lah.. but im impressed with him because at least he dared face his fears.. I really admire such people cuz usually people will run away from their problems instead of facing and overcoming them. Ok.. although I think if I ask him to do such a height-challenging task again, he may still freak out.. wahaha.. but still.. I think its gd job!
oN tHe cLiff~When we came down back to the fifth station, surprisingly my legs wasn’t tt suan lah but shoulders were!!! Think cuz I overpacked ba.. brought too many clothes.. that night it wasn’t tt cold, but probably only that nite happened to be that well ba. I think its always better to overpack tho, just in case meet a really cold nite.. =p
baCk dowN!!! wHat an aChievemEnt~Even though I was quite tired when I reached home ard 3pm, I still pushed myself not to slp till eve, because if I slpt then, I don’t think I would be able to slp when I wake in the night close to 11pm. And I cant afford not to be able to slp cuz the next morn im going to nikko~ haha.. bz life~ enjoy enjoy life in Japan.. keke..~
But the first thing I did when I reached home was to take a long warm bath~ I felt so dirty lah.. it was so disgusting.. plus, my whole shoes was so sandy.. it was unbearable lah.. went abt doing some laundry lah.. had a good dinner then off to slp le~ next up.. nikko!!! =p
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