rising sun

i can now report about the climb with a happier and less exhausted frame of mind, a good 12 hours after leaving the site of the ordeal.  if i had of packed my ibook i may have whipped it out on the descent (by far the most painful part) and possibly began the report something like this...

I totally recommend climbing mt fuji - if you FRIGGIN HATE YOURSELF!

but now after a good hard kip on the bus ride back to shinjuku, a long and relaxing scrub and a near unconscious slumber - i have started to look through the photos - all 623 of them - and its clear why we did it and why most people tackle such a task!

it was spectacular - actually beyond words - as the mountain started to transform from a dark rugged hunk of rock into an overwhelming wonderland bathed in colour and warmth we sat speechless and just soaked it up

(mama soaking it up)

All in all it was a calm ordeal, without injury - physical or emotional. there were times when i thought i would piss my pants with laughter and times when i thought one of us were just going to stop and drop - but we made it! to the top? - no...but to a position that allowed us the most breathtaking sunrise ever!

fuji is 3776 m high - we got past the 8th station and to a rocky outcrop at 3250m and the sun just wouldnt wait any longer, so we stopped, photographed and totally chilled.

coincidentally we were at the ascending and descending route meeting point, so without too much hesitation we decided to start the slide down- i think there was a slight bit of disappointment in our hearts that we didnt keep going to the "top" - but hey one mans top of the mt is another mans heart failure...we came, we conquered, we saw the rising sun!

memorable quotes from the climb...

overheard two japanese shop staff in the 5th station store:

A: there are alot of foreigners here

B: of course - japanese wouldnt climb mt fuji

mama mia - certainly the most vocal and hilarious

'those bloody bells are giving me the shits'

'holy fuck'

'i'm fine its just my heart and lungs'

'fancy bringing a dog up here'

'i just bashed my brains out on the toilet door - wanna take a photo of my lump'

'if i didnt have this bloody back pack i would be right!'

'whose idea was this?"

 

the constant calls from zume kept me going

'gambarro' (do your best)

'zutto issho' (always together)

I PROMISE to make a photo album tomorrow - its almost 2am and we are going to friggin disneyland tomorrow - i better get my beauty sleep before mingling with the likes of cinderella and minni

you are gonna need proper shoes

just in case you are ever in the mood for a 360 degree view on top of a 3776m summit (mt fuji) this is what you are gonna need (according to the broucher we picked up at the shin okubo camping store)

- long sleeve shirt
- underwear

- socks
- pants

- jumper/sweater

- hat and beanie

- gloves

- tights
- good shoes ??

- spats

- stick

- back pack

- head lamp

- extra batteries

- maps

- water bottle

- watch

- towel

- plastic bags

- bag cover

- wet packs

- sunglasses
- tent ??

- tissues
- suncream

- first aid

- health insurance

- pen and paper

- camera

- food

- oxygen

happy hanabi

sumida hanabi

paint nails
muck around
pack a bag
muck around some more
finally have shower
put on yukata at last minute
realise dont know how to put on yukata
cant breathe
run out door already late
forget music
run back to apartment
cant get in locked out
grab ipod
run back down street
hurrying for station
old man with photo print tshirt stops us
told yukata is very wrong
say we are late and have to go
old man insists we must change
takes us to side alley beauty parlour
old man and hairdresser which he calls sensei talk at length
she rips of our yukatas and starts again
very late
still hot and sweaty
can breathe better
pay some money and give some lollies
rush for train
recount bizarre experience
finally meet friends
friend has yukata on wrong way
stopped many times
find toilet to change
sweating
wander the streets
sweating some more
no convenience store
chu hi for 500 yen - ridiculous
shewwed away by homeless  man
kick up some dirt
look for another spot
set up on side of path
think we are safe
eat peas drink beer
shewwed away by park ranger
yukata sticking to ankles
beautiful obis
dirty feet
pretty flowers
music not loud enough
find baseball stadium
no space
consider making friends
find a spot under a tree
find the busiest convenience store ever
buy as much chu hi as we can carry
paint nails
add sakura and glitter
talk to passers by
been there since 4am
eat onigiri
still 4 hours to go
time passes quickly with chu hi
baseball ground packed
people flowing in
get caught up in crowd
steal a space
boss sends worker over
they have been there for a week
thank god they like foreigners
big bang
sprayed with debris
more chu hi
busting
group photos
really busting
trying to think of other things
head for the porter loos
ahh the relief
forget to lock door
oblivious
mum says she saw my butt twice
so relieved dont care
bolt back to friends
pack up move towards station
1 million others do the same
too many photos
loose mum
wonder when i will everr see her again
hysterical woman launches from crowd
find mum crying
laughing too much
sick boy
good friends
vomitting boy
give some tish
get a tick
cram onto train
got a seat
eat musk sticks
make it home
blackened and exhausted

eve of the climb

you may realise by the expression on my face...
the day has come (well actually its the eve but we leave shinjuku at 7:50pm tomorrow)!

In preparation for climbing the rugged son of a bitch (n.b. prior to the climbing commitment i referred to fuji san as a glorious formation oozing with splendour and beauty - recently i have been thinking of it as one big fat mofo that needs to be whipped and conquered)

we have been sorting ourselves, making a list, checking it twice...

have also been making a few mental lists...

notes to self
-  wear and take best clean undies for the emergency rescue (please note i have not included the phrase 'in case of emergency'- a disaster on this trip is a given! not being a pessimist just a realist)
-  resist urge to over intoxicate oneself as previously done prior to other 'big nights' (although still not completely eliminating  the thought that i may have to heavily self medicate)
- prepare mentally for a calm ascent, remind self at all times that words/phrases such as the following will only hurt, alarm and disgruntle all members of the climbing team > "i fuckin hate you all and i cant keep going" "whose godforesaken fucked up idea was  this - i hate your guts" "you have got to be fuckin numbed in the skull if you think i am going any further!"


- crying is a waste of water and will also lead to the distress and disgruntlement of the team
- my ipod will probably be more useful than the earplugs i had planned on

on the 7th day

 

 

 

thank  you to  whoever created sundays. a day of rest giving us a chance to crawl up and out of the tokyo shopping fog! we have literally shopped til we dropped this week and boy did we purchase - buying everything from 100 yen crap  bargains and tokyo soveniers to saucey street shoes and sparkely numbers. 
if you are lucky i might give you a sneek peek into some of the fab tokyo shopping bags...

ps tokyo stores never shut down not even on a sunday