The clouds and rolling hills beneath Ritchie and Paul arrived in Tokyo on the 9th of September. The last two weeks flew by and as expected, we were busy as ever touring in and around Tokyo.
It was great exploring new sites and restaurants with Ritchie and Paul. After learning the Tokyo Metro and Japan Rail Systems, they explored much of Tokyo themselves.
A view of the exhiliarating sunrise, from high atop Mt. Fuji
I'm sure they would agree with me by saying that our Mt. Fuji climbing expedition on September 15, was most memorable. Indeed it was an arduous journey and we were so happy to have made it to the top at over 3,776 feet (12,300 feet) high. A group of us including Rodney's co-workers Monma-san, Ian Haggerty and Tark Martin, along with Ritchie, Paul and myself (Rode) started the ascend at approx. 1:45am. Rodney stayed home with Markus since he'd done the climb back on a previous visit in 2003.
Ritchie and I trailed, but we made it in time close enough to the top to see the breathtaking sunrise above the clouds. Absolutely spectacular! Words cannot explain the sense of peace and awe I felt gazing at the expanse of blue sky above and white clouds beneath me. It was unbelieveably quiet up there, I could hear my heart thumping underneath all the layers of clothes. We experienced drastic temperature changes on our ascend. We climbed during the off-season, so huts or stations were not open as usual. At one point, (can't remember if it was the 8th station), it was so cold that I shivered so much I felt I was going to keel over. The altitude's thin air didn't help much with my feeling of lightheadedness. The thought of turning around and heading back crossed my mind, but at that point I was so committed, I had to continue. It was almost 8:00am when we reached the summit.
Ironically, the descent proved to be more difficult, though taking less time. Climbing down was much like a balancing act stepping down on unstable lava rocks. Ritchie slipped and had a rough tumble. Luckily no major injuries, just some small rock debris embedded in this palm and not to mention a nice gaping hole in his pants at the knee. Paul claimed he had a religious experience on the mountain. Up ahead in the distance, we could see Paul wobbling down the mountain and at times hunched over huge boulders, perhaps praying to the Mt. Fuji gods to end the misery!!
Paul taking a last break at the summit of Mt. Fuji before descending
Looking back, it was a fulfilling challenge both physically and mentally. I'm happy we did it and happy it's over! Special thanks to Monma-san for driving us out to Mt. Fuji.
