Wee Kev's Blog

Well, it's been a while since I've had any updates, mostly because Aaron arrived and we've been so busy goofing around, that I haven't had time to sit down and write. Well today is a typical hungover morning, and I'm worthless to code, so I might as well write. Actually today isn't so typical, it's moving out day. We're supposed to be on our way to Korea, but our plans were suddenly changed, however I'll save that for later... back to the Fuuj. A few days ago Aaron and I decided to embark on a journey to climb Mt. Fuji. It's a ways away from here, so we headed down to the travel agency to see what a tour to Fuji costs.... ~$200 each!!! What?! Basically all tours to Fuji, involve a 10 hour bus ride and a guided tour to the top, and a sleep in a mountain hut for a couple hours, a couple rice balls and a ride home. There's got to be a better, more importantly, cheaper way. Japan has the "18 kippu" which is a seasonal ticket that allows you to ride the trains all day for one fixed rate. A pack of 5 costs around $120 and you can sell back the unused ones. So we thought we'd just do that, it'll cost us way less, plus what kind of sissy needs to sleep in a mountain hut? We'll just sleep outside. The typical Fuji hike, starts late in the evening and hikers climb until midnight and spend a few hours sleeping in a hut then wake up around 3am and spend an hour getting to the top to catch sunrise. The Japanese have a saying that goes something to the effect of... A wise man climbs Fuji once, a fool climbs it twice. Statistically Fuji, is nothing special, it's not all that tall, the hike isn't that long, and tens of thousands of people do it every year. Fuji isn't that particularly beautiful either, Japan has applied for UNESCO certification, but has been declined multiple times due the the massive amounts of garbage on the mountain. It's more like the Mona Lisa, best viewed from a far. What it does provide is a suprisingly difficult hike, that is far steeper than your average hike, and an opportunity to build a little commordory with your fellow hikers up the mountain, regardless of nationality and language. Aaron and I started our hike at 7 pm (after 10 hours of buses and trains), which left us 10 hours to get to the top of what is supposed to be a 5 hour hike. So we took our time... stopped for snacks, napped, goofed around, then we fell asleep on a picnic bench in front of the foulest smelling toilet in existense and all of a sudden it was almost 3am, and we weren't even halfway up the mountain! It was cold, we were hungry and everything on us smelled of toilet and this nasty pepper spray they use to mask the scent. We realized we were about the last people on the trail, so we started to haul ass up the mountain, but that didn't last long as were pretty out of shape. So the goal was to catch sunset at 5am, and the nearest sign said we were 2 hours from the top. We thought we'd be alright, if we keep on keep'n on, we should be good. I always feel like those estimates are for middle aged folks who take it slow and take slews of breaks, so I figured, even at a medium pace we should easily reach the top in time. Well..... I underestimated the Japanese, as they apparently hike at full speed and those signs' estimates were surely based on someone running straight up the trail in Carl Lewis like fashion. 2 hours later, with dawn approaching, we were still more than an hour from the top and fully fully wiped out. With no hope of making it before sunrise, we got back into lazy fat American mode, and took our sweet time. The sadest part of the hike, was definitely when we realized we were doing our very best to keep in front of a small group of what looked like 60-70 year olds who were struggling to make it to the top for sunrise also. Every time we'd see them catching up, it was our only motivation to continue on, as we just couldn't allow them to pass us. They were about the only people who made it to the top after we did. In some ways I felt like a failure, everyone looked so happy at the top, taking pictures, celebrating, smiling, and really enjoying their accomplishment. We on the other hand, didn't have energy to smile, and could only could think about the long walk down the mountain and 10 more hours of bus/train rides home. We also, decided before we left to pre-purchase a round trip ticket, leaving from a different location than where we got dropped off. We over optimiticaly though, we'd take that hardest trail down the mountain when we initally planned this little trek. I'm glad we did as it turned out to be a really cool experience. There is about a 5 kilometer long ash trail. Here's a pic (That second mountain in the background is completely covered in ash and you literally run down as fast as you can.) The ash is hot and hard, and it ate right through Aaron's shoe, but the experience was the best part of the mountain. This trail is the least common one hiked, as it's the longest, which is a shame because it's probably the most interesting part of Fuji. We finally got to the bottom, and were in a bit of a hurry as we weren't sure about the train schedule and didn't want to get stuck mid route and have to shell out for a nights accomodation. So we made it down for the 10:30am bus back, but.... we somehow missed the little note at the bottom of the schedule that said the 10:30 and 11:30 buses only run on the weekends. So we had to sit for 2 and half hours for the 12:30 bus, I guess the restaurant/bath/convience store at the bottom seemed to make most of their income due to this mistake that apparently everyone makes. So now were a little tight on time, making the ride back a little more stressful and a little less pass-out friendly. Luck was on our side, and we made all our connections (7 or 8 of them), and got home. Half way home we decided to Rock Paper Scissors for who got to take a shower first. (Our apartment has one shared shower for the building on the roof). Aaron won, so when we got home, he promptly got in, and I waited... he came down, and it was my turn and I don't think I've ever looked forward to a shower more than right then. So I ran up the stairs and to my dissappointment, someone was already in there. A little suprised as that actually had never happened before, I went back down stairs and waited 10 minutes and came up again, but this time someone else was in the shower and there was someone waiting in line after them. Of all the times for a line to develop! Standing in line, the foreigner in front of me who looked really really familiar said to me how excited he was to take a shower because he'd just gotten back from Mt. Fuji. Ah, now I remember who he was, I took his picture with his friends right before falling asleep in front of the toilets. We'd lived in that building together for a month, and had never seen each other before. So I said, I took your picture at the 7th station, and his jaw dropped and we were both pretty shocked. However, I didn't have the energy to entertain much of a conversation, so I headed back downstairs, waited 20 minutes and came back up. Guess what?..... More f#$%'n people in line, this time a couple who wanted to save some money on a shower (it's a coin shower), were in line and I could just imagine how long their gonna take. Showers are kinda boring when your by yourself, no one to talk to, nothing to do. But if you've got company, what's your incentive to get out? So I learned my lesson and stayed to keep my place in line (of course, nobody came up after that), but while the couple was in there showering, they soon got into some sort of fight, and I heard the guy yelling something in Japanese, and then things getting thrown against the wall and 20 minutes later they came out and the girl is yelling at the guy and he walks out with his head down (much in the way Charlie Brown does when he's sad because he just can't seem to get the little red headed girl) as he's fully embarrassed realizing I'd been there the whole time. Ah... Fuji was an experience, I'll gladly not do again. A wise man hikes fuji once, a wiser man packs alot more food. -kev