http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Japan/Shizuoka/Mt-Fuji/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Asia , Japan , Shizuoka , Mt Fuji en-us Sun, 26 May 2013 04:06:56 +0000 Sun, 26 May 2013 04:06:56 +0000 This is the second of a threepart series on our Japan adventure. Part 1 is dedicated to highlights of our time in Tokyo and Part 3 describes our twoday trip to Hakone.After our first full day of sightseeing in Tokyo we had a satisfying dinner at a Thai restaurant. Jeff is vegetarian and unfortunately we had problems communicating this in Japanese restaurants so far on our trip so we went to a http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Japan/Shizuoka/Mt-Fuji/blog-786278.html Kawaguchiko One of the five Fuji39s lake Youtube chennel Mountain the highest mountain in Japan surround with 5 lake. Kawaguchiko is the big one. It39s the front gate to Fuji Unfortunately when I came this the sky was cloundy and rainning. I can not see the Mt. Fuji but the lake so beautiful I hope you like it too. http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Japan/Shizuoka/Mt-Fuji/blog-758755.html De reden waarom ik vanuit Tokio naar hier was gekomen was om de Mt. Fuji tour mee te doen die door het hostel 39K s House Mt. Fujizelf wordt georganiseerd. Ik had de hele avond ervoor het weerbericht voor de dag erop nagekeken in de hoop dat er verandering zou komen voor de volgende dag. Maar het gaf steeds aan dat de kans op regen vrij groot was en er redelijk wat bewolking ging zijn. Maar toe http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Japan/Shizuoka/Mt-Fuji/blog-754318.html InitiationThe infamous Fuji trip was upon us organised by our cruel overlords on the FJET council social event organisers. Each year our prefectures new ALTs Assistant Language Teachers get together to tackle the countries highest peak and probably the most photographed mountainvolcano in the world Mount Fuji. Even with a modest amount of trekking under my belt it was a tough slog and http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Japan/Shizuoka/Mt-Fuji/blog-742810.html For those of you who are still following my blog I am going to make this last entry short and sweet. Part of the reason for this is exhaustion...but perhaps an even more important reason is that the experience of seeing Mt. Fuji seriously cannot be captured in words.A few weeks ago I told a Japanese man staying in my Tokyo guesthouse that I was planning to visit Mt. Fuji during my last weekend http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Japan/Shizuoka/Mt-Fuji/blog-741534.html Saturday 25th and Sunday 2682012Woke up at 9am and tried to stay in bed for as long as possible but by 9.30 I was bored and had to get up. After breakfast I headed over to the little supermarket past the Chihiro tunnel to get some apples 499yen for 4 A bargain at the moment and some edamame. Still had to go back via the Shizutetsu to get some juice and a 2L bottle of water. I also got some b http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Japan/Shizuoka/Mt-Fuji/blog-740052.html We did it Climbed to the top and back again. Took just less than 4hrs up and just under 3 hrs down.We took the first bus up in the morning and as we drew close to the 5thstation where the walk starts we were amazed at the number of cars parked and the number of coaches and then when the vast number of people milling around. As we set off there were hundreds and hundreds of people coming down i http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Japan/Shizuoka/Mt-Fuji/blog-734651.html July 910 Mt. Fuji is Japans highest mountain at 3776 meters and I had the chance to hike up to the summit during my vacation in Japan. The hike was one of the most challenging and rewarding things I have done. It was tiring but worth it.I left from the Shinjuku station in Tokyo at around 11 in the morning. From there I made a quick transfer to the Fuji Line at Otsuki a quaint town. From O http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Japan/Shizuoka/Mt-Fuji/blog-731988.html We set off for the Fuji five lakes area from Tokyo it39s called this because there are five large lakes just north of Mt Fuji where good views of the extinct volcano can be had.We stayed one night at K39s House and moved to a hotel the following morning because the hostel was fully booked. The next place we were staying had been overbooked so we were moved to another hotel It worked out in http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Japan/Shizuoka/Mt-Fuji/blog-723009.html Mt FujiThe season was drawing in on us for our opportunity to climb Mt Fuji by the time we heading back this way. Only the stupid would climb it but we wanted to at least see it. So we booked ourselves on the train from Kyoto to Mt Fuji for one night only as we were struggling for time to do everything we wanted and we had not even been to Tokyo yet we had less than a week to go before our fl http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Japan/Shizuoka/Mt-Fuji/blog-717811.html Here are some photos of our trip so far http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Japan/Shizuoka/Mt-Fuji/blog-712451.html Okay this is just to get the map up. Stories and photos will have to follow later. Here39s the deal once at Sendai station only local trains are allowed. No Shinkansen. Have to take the next train headed in a direction other than North. No backtraking so in the event of a wrong train Aizuwakamatsu for example I have to work my way back around. Here are the stops not ALL the stops obv http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Japan/Shizuoka/Mt-Fuji/blog-695036.html Day 3 ShizuokaWe caught the iconic shinkansen bullet train from Osaka to Shizuoka today. Travelling at speeds over 300kph we arrived about 2 hours later and picked up a Mazda rental car. I was a bit nervous about driving in Japan but the driving itself turned out to be easier than I39d imagined as the road rules are quite similar to ours and the traffic wasn39t too bad probably helped http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Japan/Shizuoka/Mt-Fuji/blog-666544.html Drove to the Fuji Five Lakes District today to check out the fall colors koyo unknowingly joining the hordes of people who had the same idea. It took us about 20 minutes to realize that in the bumper to bumper traffic along the single lane bridge crossing Lake Kawaguchi we would be much better off walking. I shouldn39t be surprised by things like this anymore. I should h http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Japan/Shizuoka/Mt-Fuji/blog-664837.html I39ve delayed writing this post for over a year because it took that long before I could think of this mountain without a sense of aversion and dread. Maybe I39m exaggerating but after the experience I had I think it39s safe to say this is something I will only do ONCE in my entire life. Where to start... My good friend from home was visiting and on a whim we had decided that we would h http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Japan/Shizuoka/Mt-Fuji/blog-650437.html I climbed Mt Fuji at night Saw a beautiful galaxy in the night sky and a sunrise over the clouds.httpyodas.ws2009Jul31httpyodas.ws2009Aug01 http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Japan/Shizuoka/Mt-Fuji/blog-453098.html Fuji Hike by the Numbersa Elevation at summit is 3776 m12388 ft.b Yoshida Daguchi Trail vertical climb is 3000 m9800 ft. Oneway distance is 19 km12 mi. c 38 km24 mi over 1.5 days. 16 km10 mi day 1. 22 km14 mi day 2.d 8.75 hiking hours to summit excludes lunch and overnight at Station 7.e 7.75 hiking hours to descend includes 1 hr for exploring a side trail.f 16.5 total hik http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Japan/Shizuoka/Mt-Fuji/blog-435927.html We are leaving Kawaguchiko station with the first bus going to Mt. Fuji 5th Station at 940AM. It's already quite late since the regular season is just over ends on August 31st. For the same reason the last bus leaves rather early too so we cannot go up and return on the same day which means we have to stay on the mountain. Weather and mood are good so we start to climb up aby 11AM. The trai http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Japan/Shizuoka/Mt-Fuji/blog-433614.html August 26th to 30th 2009 Tokyo KawaguchikoAs the popular Japanese saying goes The man who climbs Mt Fuji once is wise. The man who climbs Mt Fuji twice is a fking psychopath.Ok that isn't quite how it goes. But sometimes such language is just plain necessary. Please understand me I love hiking. I love trekking. It's one of my favourite things to do. What I have discovered I do NOT like http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Japan/Shizuoka/Mt-Fuji/blog-432336.html Ah Mount Fuji the tallest mountain in Japan at 3776 m. One reason I decided to climb it is that one of my favourite restaurants back home is called Fujiyama. Also after a few days of only Tokyo I was itching to get moving. I planned it out perfectly. I would take a direct bus from Shinjuku to Kawaguchiko fifth station the most common starting point for the climb. I would rent a locker and de http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Japan/Shizuoka/Mt-Fuji/blog-423356.html