Alrighty then, so my day had already been made and what we came for had not even begun yet. Yipee!
We got off the train "ressha" in Kawaguchi went and bought our tickets "chikettos"for the bus, I got my warmer clothes, shoes and socks on and then we watched as more and more youth "wakamonos" in all their original outfits came and went on trains and buses. All headed I supposed, to the concert "konsato". WOW, would I have loved to been there for a photo opportunity of a lifetime and of course more questions to be answered.:-)
We then boarded our very colorful Thomas the Tank Engine Bus "basu" which took us up to the 5th Station of Mt Fuji. It was quite a long ride and we ended up getting there about 4pm I think. The windows "mados" were so fogged up on the bus, that we could see nothing "nani mo...nai" as we rode along.:-( So already we had put in a long day of travel "tabi" and our hike was just about to begin.
We first went into the store and bought our Japanese walking sticks "tsue" which we had read about and some ankle wader like shoe protectors to keep rocks from going in your shoes. The sticks come with a flag "hata" and some bells "suzus" on the top and then as you walk along and you get to each station or level they give you a stamp for that specific spot you attained along the way. The book suggested you take the bells off too, before someone on the hike hits you over the head with their stick; so after our BEFORE "mae ni" hike pictures were taken we removed and tucked those away in our backpacks for a Fuji souvenir "omiyage".
We decided we then had better eat "taberu" before our trek "tsurai tabi" began so we bought some pot stickers "gyooza" and noodle soup. It was very good and the hot soup was very warming to our already cooler and slightly damp bodies. When you get food at some restaurants here, you first buy tickets in a machine where you punch in the number of the dish you want and then you present the ticket to the cook. They call out your number when it is ready and you go to the counter and pick it up. There are no real waitresses "ueitoresus" and no tipping "chippu" here in Japan which is nice as well. Heck, you probably wouldn't have any change to give for a tip, as you need it all to pay for for the trains, buses, subways, toilets...This is one thing I am getting used to, and that is working with cash "genkin" all the time. I was a check "kogitte" and credit card "kurejitto-kado" user back in MN and so this is very different for me. Seems like I am forever taking more cash out of the ATM machines here. Another new and different thing to get used to.
After our pics were taken with a very foggy "kiri ga oi" backdrop we went off into a land unknown and one that we could not see either. So much for our thought,if the bad weather "tenki" holds off we plan to hike "haikingu" Fuji. The annual hiking season is only 2 more weeks long, and so we had to do it this weekend as we will be going to China and they call for rain "ame" all this week and possibly next,so we figured we will just have to deal with what comes. And so that is what we did, and with that the rains came and they never once stopped. In fact it is still pouring out right now at 1 pm in the afternoon on Monday. My guess is this is what all of September "kugatsu" and parts of October "jugatsu" are going to be like with Typhoon "taifu" season just around the corner. One more thing to get used to. Like CJ said as he left this morning "An umbrella "kasa" the BIGGER THE BETTER, will be our best friend in the upcoming days". I wonder what I am going to look like when I come home drenched from the grocery store in water, rather than sweat? Oh boy, so many new things to discover each day here in Japan.
Oh by the way we felt our first earthquake "jishin" on Friday night when we were eating our Tacos. I said to CJ, "Are you shaking "yureru" right now or is it just me"? We then both stopped a minute and sat still and sure enough there was some movement taking place. Turned on the TV and saw it was a 5.1 somewhere "dokoka" north "kita" of Tokyo. Thank goodness for maps "chizus" as I don't have a clue what they are saying. No harm done here, and it was actually kind of cool to feel it. My first since, riding out the BIG one back in in 1989 in San Francisco. I can still remember how sore my legs felt that next day after bracing myself in the doorway of the kitchen as the linoloeum floor seemed to roll under my feet.
Ok sorry, got off track anad I am not even on it yet for heavens sake :-)...So we headed out into the mist and big cloud of fog and were in it for the next 12 hours. We hiked as daylight fell around us and then CJ turned his head lamp on to help navigate our way up the steps, over the rocky lava slopes,along the chain link railing and into the ever darkening night sky. It did get dark very quick and there was no moon to guide us so thankfully we packed that headlamp and my flashlight "furasshuraito". We were not alone as there we many others crazy fools such as us that wanted to say we did it, especially when there was only a 10percent chance of us seeing the sunrise tomorrow morning. It was very pretty as we looked up above us or down below to the numerous switchbacks we could kind of see and to catch a glimpse of the rainbow of color made by all the nylon colored rain gear every smart person was donning. Those that were NOT dressed for the weather were crazy I think, to even attempt it, but there were as always many who were in shorts and hooded sweatshirt only.YIKES ? How they did not get hypothermia I do not know. It was colder than a witches T--! up on top. We,thought we had enough clothes packed, and still could have used more pairs of gloves, and dry socks. We each went through 2 pair of each.
We had planned to walk all night at a very slow pace, but at 9 pm we were already up at station 8 and we did not know what was available at the top and I did not want to sit outside from midnight till 4am to wait for the possible "kano" sunrise "hinhode". So we asked at one of the station lodges if they had room, nope all full for the night. We kept walking all alone at this point through the dark, foggy, rainy night. Excited to pass under the next red Shinto Tori gate before arriving at the next station. It was kind of nice being out there all alone, as long as there was no lightning and every once in awhile another lodge to hide behind a wall and get out of the elements for 5 minutes or so.
At station 9 the guy there said it would take about 1 and 1/2 hours to get to the top from there. We asked if we could sit inside for a bit to warm up and he said no. We then asked if they had room and he said yes. How much? It was 6900yen per person for the night and 7900yen each if you wanted breakfast in the AM. No way! I at this point though, was soaked to the bone through my 4 layers of clothes and that is 3 layers under my waterproof raingear. I was drenched from sweat and rain that got into places, well I am not exactly sure how ?, but it did.
So we grabbed a banana for 150yen each and went outside to eat it, out of the wind while taking a bit of a rest. Unless you are staying overnight, you can not sit inside the buildings. You can use the bathrooms for 100yen which are in a seperate building,but you have to rest outside. So you look for a place up against the building out of the wind. Some people sit and wrap themselves in foil to stay warm. While we sat there eating our bananas, the rain picked up and the wind seemed to blow harder and CJ then looked at me and said we are not going any further. We are getting a room even if it is $140 for a few hours, as we know NOTHING about what is further ahead.
So in we went and thankfully they took Visa. They made us take off all out wet outside gear and hiking boots right there and he then put them in a big plastic bag...so much for drying out for the next morning.:-( It was so funny when I handed him my pants and he held them up and they came almost up to his shoulders. He just shook his head when I held my BIG jacket up in front of him after that.
Once we were partially undressed,and had our muddy boats off, he gave us slippers and then took us up to the 2nd floor to our room. When we walked across the dining area/lobby in our slippers, we had to TAKE THOSE OFF, before going up the steps to our sleeping quarters. Well, we soon found out, it was not a room exactly, but one of 2 long hallways with lofts on each side of the hall and with a row of about 20 sleeping bags or more, lined up one right next to the other and people were sound asleep and some sad to say, sawing logs. Darn...I forgot to pack my earplugs, and the bad thing is CJ wasn't even asleep yet and his head was going to be right next to mine...YIKES...will I ever get to sleep?
The man of course gave us the two blue down sleeping bags, with gold blankets and a pillow right at the top of the steps where the big hallway light would shine right in my eyes and no door to close out the sound from down below. For those of you who don't know. I cannot sleep with any light in my room. I actually sleep with my blanket over my head since I have been going to Honduras as the sunrises too darn early there, and now it is the same here in Japan. Any bit of light wakes me up.
So needless to say, I am thinking this has just gone from bad to worse. I just paid way too much money and now I won't even be able to sleep. UGH! I was a little happier when he went to walk away and he pulled a curtain across the foot of our bed, I mean bags and it shut out some of the bright glaring light. YES!
So while CJ went down and out to the bathroom, I first quickly turned my sleeping bag around as I thought my head will be better at that end and less light will shine directly in my eyes. I too then realized it will be opposite CJ's as well, for hopefully less snoring in my ear. (um..maybe I should do this at home too?) Well, when CJ got back he said Why are you sleeping that way?" I said the light is shining less here and so he started to turn his bag too and then I said "NO". He was a bit sad I think, but I said "I have no ear plugs and you aren't even asleep yet". So he went to bed with my feet in his face and his in mine. No he did not even kick me in the night, though he might have thought about it.:-) He did snore though and so did a few others.So of course now I am wide awake, shivering and then all of a sudden there seems to be lots of talking in Japanese going on down in the dining area which was totally empty when we came in but the 4 men who worked there. I almost got up to see if they were letting others sit in there and warm up. They would not let us foreigners "gaikokujin" warm up inside, but were they now letting others in? Was it a Japanese thing? I was too cold to get up out of my warm bag and look, and then I remembered I too had packed my Ipod. I immediately plugged those into my ears and was thankfully able to get a few hours of sleep before 3 am rolled around and my let's get going, adventure energy was back in full force.
We had another banana and then were off for the last 1 and 1/2 hour climb to the summit. I don't know why but I wasn't even really hungry, perhaps too darn cold. It was a long slow train of people we then joined,in their colorful gear zig zagging their way up the fog covered switchbacks and through the blustery gusts of wind and rain. It had to be in the 30's with the wind chill I am sure. I kept looking for snowflakes, but never saw any. We made it to the top and quickly crowded into the shelter building with everyone else, and to get our 1st and only station stamp on our stick. Supposedly when it is raining and the sticks are wet, they don't work, or at least that is what the girl at station 6 told us. That I am not so sure about now, as they are like a branding iron and the guy at the summit hit it into the wood with a sledge hammer. He had no problem putting it into my soaking wet stick. I think the others perhaps, just didn't want to bare the cold and rain as it looked like there equipment was outside of their buildings? By the way the other stamps are 200 yen a piece and the summit one was 300yen. So they do make some money out of it. 1200yen for the stick with flag and bells and then 200yen per stamps and there are staions 5-10. We saved money, but it would have been fun to get all the different stamps on it too. I was just glad they put the SUMMIT "chojo" stamp on mine. At least it shows we did get there. YOOHOO!!!
It was like a shinto gift shop and so we bought a wood tablet with Mt.Fuji on it for our souvenir. We went into the next very crowded room and bought a bowl of hot noodle soup to warm us up a bit. A nice young man who was climbing for his 3rd time took a few photos of us and our flat Harriman pic of Graham, Kalen and Michael, so they too can say they made it to the top of Mt. Fuji-san in Nippon.We shared some of our fruit and nut mix with him and he seemed to enjoy that.
Then we went back outside in the blustery cold wind to get a photo of us at the summit pillar. A guy just took his friends photo and I asked if he could do one more and he said he was freezing to death. Oh Please I said and then when I looked down here he was one of those crazy unprepared dudes and he was standing there in shorts and had a light jacket on,NO hat NO gloves!! Well NO S--T SHERLOCK, why didn't ypu come prepared? I still can't even imagine how he made it up there and did not freeze to death. Some people are really hardy. It always makes me wonder days later what happened to them, if anything and if they are sick in the hospital with pneumonia "haien"? Hope not.
Anyhoo, so off we went down the descending path that nevvvvvvvvvvvvver ended it seemed. I told CJ when we woke up after our 4 hour cat nap, that I did not feel sore at all and either did he.YES!! Going up is much easier than going down. That is a for sure fact, after this hike. Oh my God... my right knee and little toes on each foot hurt so bad after the first 2 hours going down the easy flat gravel slopes. I tried walking every which way was possible just to give my legs a change of pace and nothing seemed to work. It would have been nice to have stairs or something to step up on or over at some point along the way. But no,it was all downhill. "OH,AH, OUCH"... is what I said each torturous step of the way.
It would have been so fun for it to be clear so we would actually know what we just had climbed for the last 12 hours. As of right now, I don't think I ever want to hike that again, to find out,...just a heads up for those of you planning to come here and visit us. :-)When we got back home I looked closer at a wet brochure we had and said to CJ,"Did you even know that's what it looked like where we were hiking?" Crazy!
So the last 3 km never ended and neither did the rain. In fact,they both got harder each step of the way. I tried to take a short cut at one of the curves in the switchback and ended up falling and when I tried to get up the weight of my back pack and the slope I fell again and almost ended up doing a somersault. Fell hard enough to tear a hole in my new HUGE rainpants and scrape my knee 3 layers under. The last mile the mudslides actually began to wash out the path right under our feet. It was like a big cement truck had just opened the chute and the cement came tumbling down the slope just inches from our feet as we jumped as far to the side of the path as we could, while digging deeper and deeper ruts in the path. YIKES...it was a bit scary and I was glad there were not really steep drop offs along the edge or that would have been mighty frightening. It was creepy enough when a big mass of mud was coming and some people ahead of us were trying to quickly climb the side of the path and all the volcanic ash under there feet just kept giving way. They couldn't get a foot hold at all. That right then and there, made me grimace harder and walk as fast as I could to get off that mountain. Thankfully we rounded a corner and there was a cement walkway built and then I thought hum... this must happen alotand that is perhaps why they built this cement structure. Whatever, that walkway had steps and come to find out I couldn't at this point step down...the pain was too excruciating for me and so I kept trying to walk faster than the muddy Mt.Fuji River that was now flowing quite rapidly next to me.
When we got to the very end there was a group of people standing on the left side of the path all hanging on to a rope and watching the mud slides come right up to them and past them washing more of the path away each time. Why were they NOT moving out of that area I wondered? As I got closer I saw that there was an older lady sitting in some kind of a wheel chair or cart and they looked to be pulling her "UP" the hill. Well there was no "FRICKEN" way they were going anywhere any time soon, especially now with the path disappearing right before their very eyes. That was just plan stupid I thought. WHY, what was going on, did they ever get her out of there, did they all get washed over the edge? It was scary to think of them all being tied to that one rope and if one went they would all go along, wouldn't they ? Just past them was another cement walkway and across the "river" more of a severe drop off which was now starting to wash away. CJ and I actually had to cross the "river currents of flowing mud" to get to the other side as the cement walkway itself was full of overflowing cement. I ran quick as I did not want to get pulled off, or the ledge to break off and then a damn of mud would have surely taken me down to who knows where?
As we walked a bit further out of harms way, we stopped to look back and I couldn't really believe my eyes and it left me wondering what would happen to all those people that were still up there walking down behind us. Would someone warn them to go another way, or if there even was another way off at that point? We thought of climbing up and going another direction but when we saw that lady who could not get footing beneath her, well it made you wonder what would you do if it did wash away the path? All I know is I am glad to be off there and hope all the others got off safely as well.
When we got on the cement path back to station 5 we noticed a couple people on horses going that direction, as well as, 2 police men walking. I wonder if they were going to help that lady or at least try to control the situation there as best they could. I wanted to stay and watch, but then again my feet were so sore and my clothes were once again completely soaked.I was drenched to the bone and getting colder by the minute. I just wanted to click my very muddy heels three times and be home in my hot shower.
We made it back to No 5 and had a quick bit of spaghetti, some curry rice and boiled soybeans before the bus took us back on that long ride to Kawaguchi. We then took our 3 trains back home and I slept most of the way as I tried ignore how cold I really was and to stay warm in my soaking wet clothes. I looked for Sayna on the way towards Tokyo, but did not see her. I did see lots of others who must have stayed the night after the concert and now were on their way back home as well. i hope they had as much fun as I did. We finally got home at 4 pm after stopping for our Jumbo-shu reward when switching to the subway in Yokohama. I immediately jumped in the hot shower. It wasn't even hot enough at the highest setting...that's how bloody cold and froze to the bone I was.Burr......
We ate some supper, unpacked our drenched bags and watched a bit of the TV. I was hoping to see the closing ceremony of the Olympics, but at 7:30pm I was in bed and fast asleep. We did not wake till CJ's alarm went off this morning for work. I guess we were very tired.
Now it is 4pm and I have been sitting here writing this all day and need to go hobble downstairs to switch over the laundry again and get myself something to eat for dinner. I have yet to put all the paper stuff away as it is still laying on the floor and table to dry out. It was unbelievable to me, how things inside of things inside of my covered backpack got wet? So with that, I will close for tonight and do know I wish you all well and hope life is treating you and yours good. What is new with you? Feel free to comment on the blog or drop us an email. I would love to hear what your all up to these days as well. I promise I will write you a personal reply back if you write us. This is just an easy way for me to tell it all at one time and for those who are interested in what we are doing.
Sending you good wishes and hopefully sunnier skies than we have here right now in Japan
Karla and CJ
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment