Blogs from Mt Fuji, Shizuoka, Japan, Asia - page 6

We are leaving Kawaguchiko station with the first bus going to Mt. Fuji 5th Station at 9:40AM. 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 trail starts gently and there are many many mostly young Japanese people on the track. After about one hour we have a first rest, talking to some monks sitting in the morning sun and smoking cigarettes (funny, ain't it?). They have just returned from the summit, and tell me how to beath the best on the way up, proving ... read more

A wise man climbs Mt Fuji once, a fool twice Mt Fuji is one of the few mountains to have a proverb about it and it is repeated in a self-deprecating manner by those who have climbed it more than once. Self-depracation is the humour of the humourless, and generally comes across as an attempt at lame conversation. To each country its obsession and to Japan it is climbing Mt Fuji quite like avoiding all sorts of strenuous physical activity in India(self-deprecation?). Almost everybody in Japan has tried it or at least thought of trying it . I first visited the 5th station(the base point for most climbers) 4 years back and the thought of climbing it all the way to the top first crossed my mind. But the opinions about the climb have varied in ... read more

Today i am off to Lake Saiko to do some exploring & caving. Basically Mount Fuji is surrounded by 5 different Lakes. Lake Kawaguchiko being the largest. Lake Saiko is the second largest & also the most beautiful. In order for me to get to Lake Sai, i need to catch the retro bus. The retro bus only runs once every 30minutes until 12pm & then once every 1 hour thereafter. I catch the bus at around 10am. it takes about 45 minutes to get to my location & the journey is wondeful. The scenery is very picturesque! My first stop is BatCave. I am so fuckin excited right now, i absolutely adore bats, amongst other things like octopus & ducks, however i am looking forward to getting in the cave. Immediately i notice - when ... read more

After a long train journey involving 4 changes & lots of stopping I arrive at Kawa' in the late afternoon. I get the free bus to the hostel, check in, take my things to my room, make my bed, the usual shit and head out to get some munchies. I'm freakin' starving marvin! There is a 24 hour mixed cafe at the end of the road and decide to eat there. I'm so hungry i end up ordering about 4 different things off the menu, accompanied with a beer & pop. I still haven't managed to get it into my brain that their portions are actually pretty big so I stuff myself silly. The bill turns out to be the most expensive yet! - I'm pretty shocked as we're in the middle of nowhere. Woops! I ... read more

So, Tokyo...Japan's mecca of technology. The Party zone. The place where it all happens. Is what they say really true about this fabled city? I couldn't tell you. You see, I didn't actually get to see Tokyo. In hindsight I can laugh, and appreciate the things I saw, but at the time it was just one annoyance after another, and sometimes it was hard to see the enjoyable bits. Forgive me if the re-cap sounds a bit ranty, but thinking back to how I actually felt during that time, the main words that come to mind are overwhelming, frustrating and confusing. Thinking back on the better points of the long weekend I can say breathtaking, humbling, and interesting. There is balance, but at the time it felt as though I was sliding down a mountain, finding ... read more