It was my first summer in another country (read: Japan) which is so much different from summer in Jakarta, Indonesia. The humidity of the air during summer here made me sweat a lot every day. I think it’s one of the reasons why Japanese get long summer break for schools, the weather isn’t friendly enough to do outside activities. At least that’s what I felt during summer here in Japan.
Though the weather wasn’t really that pleasant to travel, I had set my goal to climb Mount Fuji during this 2015 summer, because it’s the only perfect time to climb that highest mount in Japan plus the only summer I experienced during my one and a half year stay here. So off I went!
August 12-15, 2015 was set as the days for Fuji Trip. There were 9 of us traveling together, 6
Indonesians, 1 Hungarian, 1 Iranian, and 1 Indian (5 women and 4 men). With Roni san as the leader (who had the experience of climbing Fuji san in 2014), we started from Saijo station by 7.44 am train to Shimo Yoshida station, the nearest station to the apartment where we spent our nights. It took us 16 hours on the train, getting on and off many trains for we used 18 kippu (cost ¥11.850 only which can be used individually for 5 days to travel to all parts of Japan by train). It was midnight when we reached Shimo Yoshida station and apparently it was the last train we took to get there. Surely an extremely exhausting journey but we enjoyed it because we were so thrilled to climb Mount Fuji the next day. As we arrived at the apartment, we showered and rested instantly for the next day we had to leave early for our main goal.
August 13th, 2015. It was raining last night and even around 5 am it was still raining. I prayed to Allah SWT for a good weather on that day so we would be able to climb Fuji san without any worries and difficulties. Alhamdulillah, the rain stopped and we went for Fuji san at 9 am. Though it was still cloudy but still we were very determined to achieve our goals. “Fuji san, here we come!!” kept repeating in our minds as motivating phrase. From Shimo Yoshida station we took a train to Kawaguchiko station, then continued our trip by bus to Station 5 of Fuji san. Along the way from Kawaguchiko station to Station 5 it was drizzling that somehow made us worried whether or not we would be able to climb on that day. Yokattara (Alhamdulillah), when we reached station 5 the rain had stopped and the sun had started to shower us the climbers with its warm, shiny ray. To my surprise, though it was summer, the cool breeze of the wind there struck me till my bones. 😀 Apparently, summer in Fuji san areas is actually just like spring or fall in other parts of Japan in Honshu island. So we were getting ready, putting our raincoats on, buying (walking) sticks for getting stamps in the stations we were to go to on Fuji san and putting our caps on as the sun was shining pretty bright at that time. The journey began at around 1.30 pm.
We set our first footprints on Fuji san station 5 together, heading for the peak of it, willing to witness the sunset and sunrise with our very own eyes. We equipped ourselves with 1-2 litres of water, jacket/raincoat, hiking shoes, headlight, cap, and some foods. It wasn’t as crowded as I had imagined (after reading some testimonies on how crowded it usually would be during climbing season in summer and seeing the pictures), so we just slowly climbed and enjoyed the scene there.
Sou ne, they said you should really be prepared physically if you really want to climb Fuji san, and it is so TRUE. You really can’t rely on someone else, your climbing mates might be able to help you once or sometimes but, really, you should stand on your own not to be a burden for others. Be ready both physically and mentally, take a break every time you need to cause that’s what I and my group did. Don’t push yourself too hard or else you won’t be able to reach the peak due to the loss of power and strength. We were planning to keep on climbing and rest when we had reached the top, but in reality, 6 of us couldn’t take it any longer. 6 of us finally spent 4-5 hours sleeping in a hut (which cost around ¥7000 per 10 hours), while the other 3 struggled to reach the peak in the middle of the night. I was one of the 6 who finally decided to have a rest in a hut in the 2nd station 8 (there are 3 station 8) at around 12.30 am and was woken by the hut staff at 5 to see the sunrise. Why wasn’t I strong enough to continue climbing until the peak? My main reason is because I didn’t wear a heat-tech T-shirt or some layers of shirts which made me freezing staying outside (the wind really blew strongly at that night) and we were out of food stocks to get more energy. Thus, the only option for me to get my energy back was by having a proper rest, laying and covered by a blanket to keep myself warm. So I woke up with more energy the next morning, watching the sun rose along with the chilly wind blowing, an utterly unspoken scenery, Ma Shaa Allah, BEAUTIFUL!! First time witnessing the sun rose at the height of 3.250 metres.
After witnessing the sun rose on August 14th morning, the 6 of us (though separately) continued our journey to the peak of Mount Fuji at the height of 3.776 metres. It was so much easier climbing to the peak after getting back the energy that Sofi and I was able to reach the peak within only less than 2 hours (while the other 3 who struggled the night before without sleeping spent nearly 5 hours to reach the peak due to the dark situation and less power they had, though so, I put my highest salutation for them, Rachel, Yusuf and Yudis who didn’t give up easily).
Even though we didn’t reach the peak together but our mission was accomplished!! Reaching the peak of Mount Fuji, witnessing the sunrise as well as the sunset, and sleeping under the night starry sky (which amazingly astonishing!).
Left-Right: Sofi, Roni, Yudis, Rachel, Yusuf, Ina
Alhamdulillah we did it guys! What an experience! So for me, personally, it took me around 16 hours (including 4 hours sleep) to climb Fuji san until the peak. As a beginner, it was quite an achievement (for me myself of course :p) and I will remember it in my whole life. I spent around 1,5 hours strolling around the peak area, taking pictures and enjoying the view, then headed back to station 5. Some of us in our group thought that it was much easier to climb up than to climb down, but for me, it was A LOT easier to climb down, less tiring, less resting, and less energy needed. Hehee! It took us only around 4 hours to reach back station 5 from the peak of Fuji san. We arrived at around 2.30 pm on August 14th, then we took a bus to ride us back to Kawaguchiko station then continued by train to get to Shimo Yoshida station where our apartment was located nearby. Arriving at the apartment, we quickly took a shower and as predicted, many of us straightly had a rest (though we were planning to do sightseeing around the apartment area). We were really exhausted! But it was really am unforgettable experience for us all.
The next morning we checked out from the apartment and headed back to Saijo station. As previous trip, it took us another 16 hours from Shimo Yoshida Station to Saijo Station (including my experience who once was left by a train and made the others had to go back to where I was to fetch me). Three of us continued traveling to Nagoya while the other six just couldn’t wait to meet our bed. Hehee!
Otsukaresamadeshita, minna! Ano hi ha, totemo tanosihkatta dayo! Keep our memories in your whole lives, guys!
Yosh, salam Ganbatte
Ina Lestari
Ina Lestari 