Mt. Fuji - part 一

Well, I think enough time has passed and my muscles have healed that I can finally write a more positive review of my climb up Mt. Fuji. Overall, it was the most physically and mentally exhausting thing I have ever done. But looking back at the pictures, I can appreciate how beautiful it was. For days, I claimed it was the worst thing I have ever done, but now, I’m glad I went. And climbing with my two friends, Kate and Tristan, made it really fun. Kate kept my spirits up on the way up the mountain, and Tristan kept me from giving up on the way down. I couldn’t have done it by myself.
I started from Wakayama at about 7pm on Friday, July 18th. It was the last day of school, and super hot. I wasn’t feeling very well, so I took a nap before I got on the train to Kyoto, but the nausea stayed with me. At about 9:30, our group left Kyoto station on an overnight bus to Mt. Fuji. I went with a group of JET’s from various places around the Kansai area, and there were three of us from Wakayama. The bus had no leg room, so I didn’t sleep very well at all. I also threw up at the first rest stop. So my climb didn’t start out with me at 100%.
We arrived near Mt. Fuji very early, so Kate, Tristan, and I sat around, ate, and chatted at a restaurant for a few hours. We took a bus to the 5th station on the mountain. There were many souvenir shops, restaurants, and even horses to ride up the mountain. Kate and I had bought small stuffed Fuji-chans as a souvenir, and decided to take pictures of their climb up Fuji too.