Happy 26th Birthday from Mr. Fuji

So for the past few years, I've told myself that I would do my best to make sure each birthday was spent in a different place from the last. I've been pretty successful at it ever since I made it a point, thankfully. This year I was really excited to add a new location onto my birthday list, Japan. But not only would it be Japan but it was going to be MOUNT FUJI!

Now many of you may know me well enough to know that I don't play sports, or run, or do anything really physically demanding so the thought of climbing a mountain may be really absurd to you. But before I left for Japan, I mentally noted that hiking Mt. Fuji was going to be on m Japan bucket list. I was determined. With Summer in full swing, I soon researched and found out that the only time people are allowed to hike Fuji is late July to early September. I'm not sure how long I will be in Japan but with the hike season here, I figured why wait till next year when I could do it now. Besides, who knows if I will even have a next year!! So with much pondering I figured how perfect would it be to plan the Fuji hike on my birthday!

With some help from a friend and granted days of from work, I started to plan and buy things that I needed for the big hike. I had signed up for a tour to Fuji leaving from Tokyo so I had to buy transportation to the city as well. It may be odd to travel to Tokyo first when Fuji would geographically come before Tokyo, but I figured if I was going to do this hike alone it would be smart to do it with at least a group of other people and a guide. I had barely made the decision to go a few weeks before actually going. So I quickly ordered gear from Amazon.com and hoped that it would get here on time. Thankfully everything was falling into place and ordered and paid for. This is probably the most expensive birthday present I had ever bought for myself but I knew the experience would be priceless and one I would remember forever.

Soon, my birthday weekend was coming and I found myself really excited for the adventure to come.

So to start, on Wednesday, August 6th, I took a night bus from my city to Tokyo. A night bus was the cheapest way I could get to Tokyo. It is basically a travel bus that drives all night to your destination. I arrived in Tokyo at 6:15 am on Thursday morning. My tour was to leave at 7:15am that same morning to Mt. Fuji's 5th station. You may be thinking what a hectic plan that was, to get rest the night before climbing a mountain on a night bus...it was. I hadn't gotten good rest on the bus and was very tired when heading off to the mountain. When I was at the bus stop waiting, I saw many other people coming for the same tour. It is very easy to tell who was climbing and who was going to Disneyland. The large hiking back packs and brightly colored wind breakers were a dead give away. Many people also were in pairs or groups.

Around 7:30 am, our group got onto the bus and got on the road for the 3.5 hour drive to Mt. Fuji's 5th station. I can't remember the exact time we got to the 5th station but when we arrived we got a chance to change, eat lunch and get use to our surroundings. The 5th station was bursting with visitors, hikers and workers. It seemed like many people come on vacation, school trips, just for the day or to take the long hike.

Soon, my group all came together to meet our tour guide as well as get ready for the climb! In my group there was a mix of different people. There were two pairs of father-daughters, one from America and the other pair from Finland, a group of Indian college students who were studying in Tokyo, a group of women from Malaysia, a solo climber from France studying in Tokyo, an American woman on vacation, a Canadian programmer on vacation, an English man, a couple of Australian girls on vacation, and a pair of roommates who were living in Tokyo. Our tour guide was a very tanned Japanese man who spoke English but had very funny word choice.

The hike in the beginning was very slow. The pace was almost frustrating but I understood that we couldn't start off fast, there was a long way to go. I had no idea of how the hike was going to be. I just heard it was rather easy and nothing to worry about. When actually started the journey, I had to remember to keep focused and keep breathing deep breaths. It is very common to get altitude sickness and I was determined to get to the top so I couldn't let the altitude get to me!

We were told that our goal that day was to get to the 8th station. From there, we would rest and have dinner and take it easy to get acclimated for the summit. So from noon to 6pm, it was an uphill struggle. Many parts of the mountain were mostly rock and loose gravel. My favorite part of the uphill climb was the rocky section where you had to use all fours sometimes to get up. Most of the six hours, though was spent taking small steps up and up and up. Luckily, we took small breaks every thirty minutes or so and also at almost all of the stations. These stops gave us time to use the bathroom (each bathroom break was 200 yen each usage), have water, or a light snack. I didn't know what or how much to pack but luckily I was smart with my snacks and water amount. It is recommended that you bring 2 liters of water. It really weighed down my pack but when seeing the prices of water on the mountain, I was glad that I brought the water that I did.

The constant uphill was tough and really forced you to be mentally strong. For a person who isn't physically active, it really took my mind to take me up the mountain. Along the way, I also got to talk to a few people that was in my group. Christiaan was the girl from France. She was hiking alone and was currently living in Tokyo to study Japanese. Cameron was the American woman who was in Japan on vacation. It was also her first time out of the United States and she had to of been in her late thirties. I also met the roommates from Tokyo, Susan and Jacqui. Susan was originally from New Zealand but was currently living in Tokyo for a change of life as well as hopefully break into the Tokyo art scene. Jacqui was originally from Canada and was currently living in Tokyo as well. It was interesting to see the father-daughter pairs too. It made me miss my dad even though I don't know if he would be up for a mountain hike. Actually he probably would be but I would just worry about him.

We arrived at the 8th station around 6:30 pm Thursday evening. By this height the wind was getting stronger and the temperature was getting colder. At the start, many people were wearing tank tops and short sleeve shirts but by now, everyone had at least a jacket on. I had my long sleeve, fleece jacket and rain jacket on. The weather was chilly but the view was awesome! You could see neighboring mountains, lakes and the city down below.

The mountain hut we stayed at was small. It is more of a place to lay down then it is a place to get proper sleep. The place consisted of double decked sleeping areas that just had sleeping bags next to each other. There were no showers and barely any room to breathe. Luckily we were only there for a few hours and I was thankful for at least a place to lay down. That evening we had a meal of curry and rice and was told that we would start the summit hike at 2:30 am. After dinner and cleaning up as much as I could, I laid down to try and get some sleep. I thought that with my restless bus ride sleep the night before and 6 hours of hiking I would pass out but I was wrong. I had the hardest time falling asleep and ended up getting up at 12:45 am just to get some air and get the morning started. I probably only had about an hour of sleep.

The summit hike was a bit brutal. It was cold, windy and dark and with only an hour of shut eye, I was incredibly tired. Everyone was trying to leave for the summit at the same time. The mountain top was scattered with lights from the hikers and it was pretty cool to see everyone getting together for a same goal. The hike to the summit was about an hour and a half from the 8th station. I found myself closing my eyes on each break we got to take. After shuffling up hill once more, we finally made it to the summit just as orange broke through the sky.

As we all sat down as a group and was congratulated by our tour guide, I wished myself a happy birthday and had a chocolate granola bar. I figured it was the closest thing I was getting to chocolate cake on the mountain top. After the short rest, the few of us who wanted to hike around the crater split off. I was incredibly exhausted but got myself up to do the crater hike. I was really glad I did because on that hike you could see the sunrise much more clear. Now the sun was really coming out through the orange. It was like a perfect orange ball just sitting in a sea of white. A really awesome site to see and experience. The crater was also really cool and as a destination on the walk, we went to the highest peak of the mountain, 3,776 m. I had done it!!

After we enjoyed the summit and sunrise, we all headed back down to the 8th station to get our things to make the shuffle down. Going down was obviously not as difficult or time consuming as going up but it was still very strenuous on the legs. I think I worked out every part of my legs those hours on the mountain. The descend down the mountain took me a little over two hours. Luckily I had one of the girls in our group going down with me and the view was really picture perfect.

When we finally made it back to the 5th station we were so happy and thrilled we had done it. It was kind of funny seeing people just starting their trek. All I could think about was how just the day before that had been me! What was I thinking then!! But honestly I am really glad I decided to do this for myself and that I succeeded. I can officially say I have climbed a mountain!!!

I think this year has been the longest birthday. My day had started at 12:45am and by the time we got to the 5th station is was only 12pm but I had already felt like I had done so much!! Within the tour package was also a visit to the onsen after. I was a little hesitant about the onsen, not because I was going to be nude in front of strangers but because I had heard that many onsens don't allow tattoos. Luckily when we had gotten to our onsen, they did not mind tattoos probably because they know on the tours there are many foreigners.

If you don't know what an onsen is, it's a Japanese public bath house. So there are these massive baths or hot or warm water that everyone goes into. I know that sounds gross but you actually must shower yourself before and after getting into the public baths. I was just really excited to shower! I'm sure walking into the onsen, our whole group smelt like sweat and the outdoors. The experience here was also very new. I had never been around so many naked women I had just met, or any naked women period! But knowing that was going to happen before I got there, I was just playing it cool and turned out to be more comfortable then I  thought. The bath in the hot water was very relaxing after such a physical activity.

To stay on schedule, we stayed at the onsen for only an hour and got back on the bus for the last three hours back to Tokyo. On the mountain I had talked to Susan and Jacqui often. They knew I had a night bus back to my station at 11 pm, which gave me about four hours from when we arrived back in Tokyo, and invited me over to their house to kill some time. It was really awesome to meet cool and welcoming people on such a trip. So I took them up on their offer and was excited to just be in Tokyo with others when I thought I was going to be waiting those four hours alone.

I had never been to Tokyo before so even this small visit was really fun. I went to the store with Susan to get some food for dinner and she was so sweet to also stop by a bakery to get me a cake for my birthday. I spent the evening with them at their share house where I met their other house mates as well. We ate, hung out, and even had some beers. By the time 10 pm rolled around, I got my things together and they escorted me back to the station.

This trip will definitely be something I remember forever. I feel accomplished and lucky to have some an experience and I really thank God for getting me up and down that mountain safely with new memories and new friends. It's funny to think I am 26 now but honestly I really like where I am in my life and am so blessed to be able to have the life I do have.

Also want to say a huge thank you to my family and friends who sent texts, messages, snap chats, videos, emails and facebook posts! You guys are great and really make me feel missed and loved! Thank you so much for reading and all the positive vibes. I miss you and love you guys!!



xx
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