I met up with about 14 other JET's from Niigata prefecture and headed to Mount Fuji with them. I had never met them before so made new friends. Niigata is the prefecture up from Nagano.
We got to Fuji-San at around 8pm and headed off for the climb around 9.30pm. The group split into 2 so the faster climbers set off later. I went up with the slower group but this meant we took a longer path....not sure this was the best way to go about it now! The climb up took me about 8 hours. I was in full gear including pole and head lamp! It was pitch black on the way up and when we got high enough we overlooked Tokyo. It was like looking at a city from an airplane. I suffered quite badly from altitude sickness which I could say is possibly the worst thing I have ever experienced. I could literally take 2 steps then would have to sit down. The air was so thin it just wasn't getting into my body. We had some cans of oxygen that seemed to help...I'm still not sure if this was the placebo affect!
We just reached the top in time for sunrise, and even though I took a few pictures I didn't take that many as my whole body just did not want to function up there! The plan was to walk around the top of the mountain once up but you only had to take one look at my group to see that none of us were in any fit state. I was even doubtful if I could make it down! It was sooo cold at the top, I had about 6 layers on!
On the way down the sun came out in full force so by the time I completed the 4 hour hike down I had a vest, leggings, sun cream and sun burn!
We were very lucky with the weather though as it was forecast 60% chance of rain....if it had rained I think that would have pushed me over the edge....I would have cried without a doubt!
I can honestly say that climbing Fuji-San was the hardest thing I have ever done but it gave me a real sense of achievement to have pushed through so many barriers in one night. And now that I have climbed the highest mountain in Japan I can do anything right???? It is quite typical of me to choose Fuji as the first mountain to climb - I don't like to do things by halves!
When everyone was down we headed to the hot springs. Having missed a night of sleep and being covered in dust and dirt it was just what the doctor ordered! It was a really nice hot spring and I managed to get a few minutes shut eye in the sauna. Still a bizarre thing to do though....go and get naked with 7 girls you have only ever seen during the night wearing 6 layers of clothes - by this point though I don't think anyone cared!
That night I headed back to Iiyama to stay at Madz apartment. I hadn't been to her apartment or Iiyama yet so I really wanted to spend some time there.
We sat up talking until about 2am and then slept most of the next day! But I still mustered up enough energy to go on a bike ride in Iiyama.....during a typhoon no less, which meant battling against gale force winds and trying not to get blown off my bike into the river!
Madz has a 'language exchange' with a local man in Iiyama who came round on Monday night. I have been dying to know for ages why apples are so expensive and why banana's are so cheap in Japan.....so he explained it to me! I'm such a geek sometimes but I love learning about international trade! Madz says he wants to ask me about the self sufficiency of the UK in terms of food provision as UK is an island like Japan and what would happen if war broke out? Could the UK provide food for its citizens? Or have we gone import mad? It only takes a quick walk around Tesco to realise that we might be up the creek if we had to provide for ourselves......Sorry I'm boring you now!
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