Blogs from Mt Fuji, Shizuoka, Japan, Asia - page 3

Today we decided to explore Hakone below our cable-car stop. The distance between the cable-car stops is only about 250m but the slope is very steep and justifies the cable-car. Many of the streets are paved with concrete with deep grooves, both for traction on the slope and to shed water. Although there are few footpaths and roads are very narrow many people still walk on them. When a bus or truck comes you scramble to the side as best as you can. In what passes as the main street of Gora we noticed a multi story facade of cladding, with construction sounds coming from behind it. Intrigued we turned into the side street and discovered it was hiding a demolition site. In this area it seems to be important that everything looks pleasing. We spent ... read more

Today was my last day in Japan and I'd booked a tour to visit the iconic mountain Fuji. I'd booked a pick up point when I organised the tour but I hadn't had time to go find it.when us spoken to the guy on reception he said it wasn't too far away and I could just grab a taxi in the morning, so that is what I did. I was up and organised extra early, I'd got the voucher printed out and I'd got the hotel address translated into Japanese for the taxi driver and I'd bought supplies for the trip as I wasn't going to have time for breakfast. So true enough I flagged down a taxi, he understood the address details and took me there. The pick up time was 7.55am and I had ... read more

He who climbs Mount Fuji once is a wise man, he who climbs twice is a fool. Never have truer words been spoken. I summited Mount Fuji (Japan's iconic and highest mountain) last Tuesday morning ~5:30 completing the eastern peak Asian Trilogy of Fuji-san, Mount Kinabalu, and Yushan, the latter 2 being the highest mountains in Malaysia and Taiwan which I summited in May 2006 and June 2014, respectively. I'm not exactly sure why climbing Fuji twice would be considered foolish although I certainly have no intention of ever climbing again. In good weather, rare during the official July-August climbing season although fleetingly amazing when I went, the ascent is not difficult and can be completed by the physically fit in 4 hours without stopping. However, the descent is annoyingly tedious, quite painful, and unnecessarily long ... read more

Jetlag woke me up by 4a, no! At 7:15, we checked out and reached Gotenba station right on time at 7:45. 3 buses were waiting along with a long line of participants. It was getting more real than ever!! Although the check in process seemed inefficient, our bus left at 8:15 and arrived at Kodomo no kuni ahead of the schedule. We must have walked a good mile of uphill to the event setup...so uncalled for...huff puff. Shige-san spotted us right away. He had arrived 20min earlier and already had pitched a picnic. We had to proceed to check-in. Check in to get the race packet was fast but the next step was a long wait, airport security style. We had to go through impromptu 6-item mandatory gear spot-check. Missing anything could lead to DQ. I ... read more

After all the hustle-bustle of a packed one day business conference at Tokyo, I was eagerly looking forward to my (purposefully) extended weekend trip to Mt. Fuji, the magnificent world heritage site. Accompanied by my newly introduced friend, who lives and works in Japan, needless to say, we had our plan handy for the most rewarding one-day trip from Tokyo. Conserving our tapering energy levels for some much needed sleep, we boarded a 30-seater coach that drove us from Shin-ju-ku to Mt. Fuji in about two hours. A bit annoyed by the slow-moving traffic that left us complaining, just until we got a breath-taking view of the captivating, snow-capped, mighty peak, standing still 3,776 meters above sea level. OMG! I was truly thankful for being blessed with splendid weather, giving us a crystal clear view of ... read more