ME :)

Tue 21/07/2009

It was a very overcast day in Lake Kawaguchiko but a couple of us from the Hostel decided to hire some bicycles and ride around the lakes. There are 5 lakes in total hence this area is called the five lakes, duh. I wanted to go to all of them but that was not feasible on the bikes we had so we just decided to go around Lake Kawaguchiko and Lake Saiko. For most of the ride, it was on a designated cycle path but there are parts of the ride where you have to ride on the road.

It was fairly quiet on the roads so you should be fine. The terrain is quite flat for most of the journey but just as you move to Lake Saiko, there is a relatively steep climb. It’s only a short climb so if you have nothing to do in Lake Kawaguchiko, riding a bike is a great way to explore the area. You don’t even need a helmet, just bring a backpack with some water, nibbles and you’re set for the day.

There’s some splendid views to enjoy while you ride around the country side. We visited one of bat caves and it was quite possibly one of the worst tourist attractions ever. The cave is tiny, you can walk and crawl around in a matter of minutes. There wasn’t a bat in sight, I guess for obvious reasons and supposedly where the bats hibernate, they’ve blocked off the tunnel entrance.  If you fancy stopping at the caves, feel free to do so. The only benefit I can see from visiting these caves is to cool down from the heat, natural air conditioning.

The biking adventure took about 6-7 hours and you really get a sore ass sitting on those rented bikes. It’s not as bad as the time I rode from San Francisco to Muir Woods but it was uncomfortable nonetheless.

smiles

Mon 20/07/2009

We took several rests along the way to the summit but the longest rest was at the 8th station at 3am. It was freezing up there and because we didn’t have adequate gear, it wasn’t a good idea to summit too early and freeze at the higher altitude. Even at the 8th station, the cold was unbearable and the howling winds made it even worse. There are benches you can sit on at each station so at the 8th station benches we wanted to take at least 45 minutes of rest or even nap. To counter the cold, we three strangers huddled up and shared our body warmth (still dressed of course). Everyone walking past would think, wtf are these guys doing? I managed to sleep for 10 minutes despite shivering for most of that time. All I had one was a t-shirt, thin north face jacket and trousers. I was barely warm in those clothes and I kept thinking when is the sun going to rise so I can get some warmth!

At 4:45am the sun broke over the horizon and the summit was edging closer. We sat on the side of the mountain taking in the sun rise and wondering to ourselves, if this has been all worth it? As the sun rose higher and higher above the horizon, we too got closer and closer to the summit. The queue to the summit at this point felt like it was taking longer than at any other stage. I was definitely fatigued and with only 4 hours of sleep in the past 24 hours, I started to feel weary and got a bit of a headache due to the higher altitude.

At 6:00am we reached Mt Fuji Summit and all we could think about was lets hurry up and get out of this wind and descend back to the 5th station. After a few photos we did make our way back down to the Bus. I thought making the descent was far more difficult than ascending to the summit. The reasons being that the road back down was quite slippery with loose rocks and since you were so fatigue it was easy to roll and ankle or tumble and hurt yourself. The entire descent was steep zig zags which felt never ending and I just kept thinking when this shit is going to end. It didn’t help that the others were waiting for me at the end of each zig zag because I was going so slow, sorry guys!!!

I was truly spent near the bottoms end and any amount of energy left was zapped away with the sun now heating me up and burning my face. My legs felt like they were going to collapse on me, I almost rolled my left ankle slipping on a rock and the final steps back to the 5th station felt like the steepest part of the journey. Everyone on the bus was sleeping except for the business men who were standing. We reached the hostel at approximately 10:30am and we only knew of one thing to do and that was to clean up and get some sleep!

My body felt hot like it had a fever when I woke up, my legs felt like they were missing and how I could only got 4 hours sleep was beyond me. My room mate who did the climb said people came into clean and vacuum making lots of noise but I was oblivious too it all. Had I been woken up by these cleaners, I too would have given them dirty looks like she did!

I did nothing for the rest of the evening as there wasn’t much to do in this little town! My fellow Mt Fuji climber and room mates decided to go for a walk and find a restaurant for dinner. We found a Ramen restaurant, ordered a banquet with some beers and enjoyed each others company.

smiles

Sun 19/07/2009

The Airport Bus from Jason’s place was so convenient. The only problem was that I didn’t understand a word the driver said so when we did arrive at the airport, no one was flying international so I ended up at the domestic airport – thanks driver. I think there was a free bus shuttle service which runs around the airport but I didn’t want to wait around so instead I had to walk about 15-20 minutes to the International Airport with all my gear.

Check-in was straight forward but the only thing that left me a little baffled was when the check-in desk clerk said “please take a seat for 5 minutes while we inspect your bag”. The problem wasn’t checking of the bag but it was how do you know if they have checked it and you were good to go. After about 15 minutes I did see a crowd gather to the side of the check-in desks and it was at this spot that you were able to see customs checking your bags. If you can spot your bag on the desk then that would mean your bag had a problem. I didn’t spot my bag there so just to be sure I confirmed it with one of the check-in managers. Why couldn’t they just tell all passengers before-hand? What if a passenger goes into security and their bags had something suspicious inside? Do they need to come out again or would they just not see their luggage on arrival at the destination?

I fell asleep for most of the flight over to Tokyo and almost missed breakfast. The tail wind coming into Tokyo was very high so it made landing quite difficult. Just before we were about to touch down, the pilot (so I think) had to move the wing slightly upwards before balancing the plane to land. I could see many people hold their breathes or holding tightly on to their front chairs and praying nothing was going happen to the plane. I wouldn’t be surprised if even a little bit of wee came out.

The train to Tokyo and in between was sheer madness. I thought the tube trains got busy but I have to say this is even worse. The sheer number of people moving from one platform to another, cramming into the train, it’s just crazier then I’d ever imagined. My destination was Shinjuku where I was to board a bus and travel a further 1.5 hours to Kawaguchiko for my final destination for the day. Trying to find the Express Bus Terminal at Shinjuku is an adventure in itself and made worse only by the gear I was carrying and the amount of people rushing in all directions. Shinjuku train station is almost like a mega-city in itself and trying to find anything is near impossible. I was walking up stairs, across different terminals and even surfacing to the main streets all to find buses that either go to the airport or somewhere local in Tokyo. It was only until I asked for help that I eventually located the bus terminal to Kawaguchiko.

The journey from Shinjuku to Kawaguchiko takes about 1.5 hours at a cost of 1700 yen which is quite cheap. You can take the train there but it is about 3 times more expensive and takes an hour longer.

I stayed at K’s House Mt Fuji hostel and it is quite a clean hostel compared to most hostels I’ve been to. While checking in, I managed to find 2 people to climb Mt Fuji with. I looked at the weather forecast and thought tonight was the only night possible to climb to the summit and see the sun rise.

• We started the journey at 6pm and walked to the bus stop.
• The bus left at 7pm to the 5th Station which took about 50 minutes.
• We began walking to the summit at 8pm.
• We were all under dressed and weren’t prepared for the weather conditions as we climbed higher and higher.
• There were too many people climbing to the summit, I would say about 1000 people and lining up behind one another and climbing meant the hike/climb will take twice the time.
• Stupid American teenagers pushing in and it was annoying that they were so loud and causing a fracas. I only hope they froze once they got to the summit as a number of them too were under-dressed.
• If I had the chance, I would knock every one of those little shits back to the 5th station. Americans already have a bad reputation as travelers, these freshman’s add to that bad rep.
• Climbing wasn’t difficult as you couldn’t go at your own pace. Until someone moved up and took a step, then you can take a step and go up. This was repeated for about 10 hours until the summit.

smiles

Sun 19/07/2009

Luckily before I went to bed that night I double checked my flight details otherwise I would have missed my flight. I thought the flight was at 12:00pm but actually it was at 9:20am so that meant I had to leave the apartment at 6am to have sufficient time to check in. There is a bus below Jason’s apartment that goes directly to Gimpo Airport. That is very convenient and saves me going on the metro train swapping and changing about 3 times. The bus was only 6000 won, a damn bargain and it only takes 50 minutes whereas the train would take about 1.5 hours.

The only thing bad about the bus is that it doesn’t let you know when to get off. So instead of dropping me off at the International Airport, I arrived at the Domestic Airport which resembled a ghost town and then walked for about 15 minutes to the International Airport where there was just a few more people (mainly Japanese) wheeling their suitcases around. Gimpo airport even has its own cinema, now that’s another first. I couldn’t possibly watch a movie at 7am in the morning. I wonder if there’s a side screen which displays flight times for those travelers’ killing time in the cinema and waiting to board that plane. I’m surprised it was even open this early and even the snack bar was open with the beautiful aroma of fresh popcorn.

smiles

Sat 18/07/2009

I didn’t do much today and just decided to kick back at Jason’s place. We just went to try out some Vietnamese cuisine downstairs. Vietnamese is quite popular here especially the noodle soups (pho), why wouldn’t it be popular? Everyone loves that MSG goodness. Later in the evening when the rain began to ease, we jumped on the Metro line for 1 stop to a suburb called Ori. There we went to the local plaza to watch Transformers 2. Tickets are 8000 won and we got 3rd row seats. 3rd from the front I mean so it wasn’t the greatest seat in the world.

In Seoul particularly at department stores they have this machine that allows you to insert your wet umbrella into some plastic so it doesn’t drip and leak water all over the shop. It’s a great idea but may be costly to provide the plastic, someone must be paying for that! These machines only work for the long umbrellas and not the retractable ones. It’s a very simple device; it’s just like placing a long plastic bag over the umbrella so that water doesn’t go all over the floor. I will assume they throw away the plastic in the bin once they’re finished at the department store.

I find it amusing that at most if not all train stations there are full body size mirrors which you can use to groom yourself, check your hair, your make up and so on.

There are so many underground markets in Seoul. Long labyrinths and networks of stalls that usually connect up with a train station. Above ground there may be department stores and fancy shops but just below where you stand, you can find similar stores but I think they’re predominantly stores that sell cheaper products and different sorts of items. You’ll always find a store somewhere in Seoul even in the oddest of places. Sometimes I think anyone can set up a store and sell something but surely there is some sort of regulation or license required in order to sell goods.

smiles