Wednesday, March 21, 2007
Summer Homestay 2007 - Mount Fuji
As we carry on to the top of Mount Fuji, the temperature drops to about sub-10 degrees celcius and you start to pile on your sweaters and cold wear. The rest house at each station is a buzz of activities. Oden, hot drinks, coffee are on sale but at cut throat prices and it gets worse as we go up.
The sky is a myraid of stars and constellations and in the distance the small lights of town flicker like stars. You start to feel slightly misearble as tiredness start to wear in. Keep moving to prevent feeling cold.
After the 9th Station, the slope gradient increases to a climb and the pace slows down to a crawl. You can see the line of people lining up to the top stretching all the way down to where you came from. A good few thousand people I think. I wonder how many people climb Mount Fuji per night???
You feel fresh as the coldness hits your face and you don't feel sleepy any more. You feel colder as your movement decreases from the slow pace. You need to move in order to keep warm. A few heat packs would come in useful now. The coffee in the vacuum flask has already turned cold. As you near the top, people start to settle down to get a good place for GORAIKOU, which is sunrise in Japanese. Now you really feel cold because you are not moving at all. Place something under your butt to prevent if from freezing. People start to get preoccupied with meddling with their cameras, tripods etc. People start to much on onigiri, mueslli bars, chocolate bars etc to fill up the empty stomach.
At this time, the horizon starts to brighten up and you get a clearer view of the view around you. You can see the people around you clearer, you start to form the towns far below and the rocky volcanic rocks around you. It seems like eternity for the sun rise to peer out of the horizon. Check your camera equipment and make sure you have loaded in fresh batteries and everything is working for the crucial moment coz you don't want to miss capturing a shot of the sunrise which you spent the whole night climbing for...
At the precise moment that the sun peeks out to greet us (all the people on the mountain), the Japanese cry out "BANZAI!" at the top of their voices. I am sure those staying in the nearby towns below, would be jolted up by the cries of the thousands of crazy people who climb the whole night. Start clicking away to make sure you get that perfect shot! The next time I climb, I will make sure to catch the scene behind and around me, which shows people raising their arms and shouting "BANZAI!" The sun peeks out and rises. A truly beautiful sight. A sight to behold. You are simply awed by the beauty of nature and you think to yourself:" The climb was worth it". As the sun rises, it gets brighter still the glare hurts your eyes. At this time, you can either walk around the crater (takes about one hour), visit and send a postcard from the post office on the top of the crater, take in the majestic view or....just knock out and grab some zzz. As it gets warmer from the sun's rays, tiredness and grogginess sets in. Get some energy and top up on fluids.
It gets so glaring that you decide to make your way down. The way down is faster but do take care as it can get slippery as you slide and brake from the gravel under your feet. Catch a few shots down as you can see clouds and you will feel like on top of the world. There are some weird sign posts with weird english wordings along the way down. Catch these on cameras for your albums to add humour. The way down is faster but take care not to injure yourself or slip / fall. As you look back at the hordes of people behind you and the majestic Mount Fuji, you think to yourself: "What goes up must come down"
~~~There is a Japanese saying: "That you will only climb Mount Fuji once, anything more than that means you are crazy!"~~~ I think I am that crazy!!!
Melchan
22 March 2007
The sky is a myraid of stars and constellations and in the distance the small lights of town flicker like stars. You start to feel slightly misearble as tiredness start to wear in. Keep moving to prevent feeling cold.
After the 9th Station, the slope gradient increases to a climb and the pace slows down to a crawl. You can see the line of people lining up to the top stretching all the way down to where you came from. A good few thousand people I think. I wonder how many people climb Mount Fuji per night???
You feel fresh as the coldness hits your face and you don't feel sleepy any more. You feel colder as your movement decreases from the slow pace. You need to move in order to keep warm. A few heat packs would come in useful now. The coffee in the vacuum flask has already turned cold. As you near the top, people start to settle down to get a good place for GORAIKOU, which is sunrise in Japanese. Now you really feel cold because you are not moving at all. Place something under your butt to prevent if from freezing. People start to get preoccupied with meddling with their cameras, tripods etc. People start to much on onigiri, mueslli bars, chocolate bars etc to fill up the empty stomach.
At this time, the horizon starts to brighten up and you get a clearer view of the view around you. You can see the people around you clearer, you start to form the towns far below and the rocky volcanic rocks around you. It seems like eternity for the sun rise to peer out of the horizon. Check your camera equipment and make sure you have loaded in fresh batteries and everything is working for the crucial moment coz you don't want to miss capturing a shot of the sunrise which you spent the whole night climbing for...
At the precise moment that the sun peeks out to greet us (all the people on the mountain), the Japanese cry out "BANZAI!" at the top of their voices. I am sure those staying in the nearby towns below, would be jolted up by the cries of the thousands of crazy people who climb the whole night. Start clicking away to make sure you get that perfect shot! The next time I climb, I will make sure to catch the scene behind and around me, which shows people raising their arms and shouting "BANZAI!" The sun peeks out and rises. A truly beautiful sight. A sight to behold. You are simply awed by the beauty of nature and you think to yourself:" The climb was worth it". As the sun rises, it gets brighter still the glare hurts your eyes. At this time, you can either walk around the crater (takes about one hour), visit and send a postcard from the post office on the top of the crater, take in the majestic view or....just knock out and grab some zzz. As it gets warmer from the sun's rays, tiredness and grogginess sets in. Get some energy and top up on fluids.
It gets so glaring that you decide to make your way down. The way down is faster but do take care as it can get slippery as you slide and brake from the gravel under your feet. Catch a few shots down as you can see clouds and you will feel like on top of the world. There are some weird sign posts with weird english wordings along the way down. Catch these on cameras for your albums to add humour. The way down is faster but take care not to injure yourself or slip / fall. As you look back at the hordes of people behind you and the majestic Mount Fuji, you think to yourself: "What goes up must come down"
~~~There is a Japanese saying: "That you will only climb Mount Fuji once, anything more than that means you are crazy!"~~~ I think I am that crazy!!!
Melchan
22 March 2007
Labels: Banzai, Goraikou, Mount Fuji
# posted by hipposingapore @ 3:53 PM 
Subscribe to Posts [Atom]