my favorite part of the road going to kawaguchiko from kofu, on a clear day, mt fuji can be seen just beyond the valley...i call this place, RIVAFILIA'S POINT!
五合目5th station and Roy...the fifth station is a shopping center on a mountain...
the start of the climb. started out very late (why? because i was 4 hours late...sorry! photo courtesy of gong www.thepharaohgaijin.blogspot.com)
millions of people going up...
one can rent a horse from the 5th till, i dunno, the 6th. the horses were HUGE though and they stink!!!!! and i bet renting it cost a fortune as well!
school trip for these kids...yey for the kids, kawai so teachers!
and dressed up dogs too carried by old people
and crazty filipinos who bring so much unnecessary stuff! (roy, kuya bernand, ruel, gong and michael)
trees at the 5th station...
quite interesting
because after the 5th, there're only rocks
these steel things...(gong the chronicler...www.thepharaohgaijin.blogspot.com)
an occasional survivor
a lot of clouds!!!!! 雲海
ropeways (?)
and the crazy ones!
we thought we were near the summit already!
we are like minded people who love to pose even when tired! gong holding a camera, me holding an oxygen bottle,roy doing the japanese peace sign, kuya bernard holding the 1,200 yen walking stick and michael being his usual snobbish self!
unfortunately we still had a loooooong way to go and a lot of people to go there with! (huge zit on the forehead indicates stress level)
gong showing me how to pose with ruel
am i learning fast, gong, or what?
reflections of the pink bandanna!(really? pink?)
mama mia, i am here!!! a part time people traffic enforcer on fuji, wearing orange so that i won't get lost!
there are several mountain lodges between stations but they cost a lot ...
so being the cheap and broke filipinos that we were, we decided to camp. although it wasn't allowed, we found a secluded area to pitch tent (michael found the spot and got me to camp!)
and the view from our "balcony" was magnifico!
inside that gray flask is whisky...nyahaha!
dinner was no simple camp fare, we had fried rice, pork ribs soup and yakisoba...we had better dinner i think than those offered at the lodges ( and that's thanks to the culinary skills of ruel and michael)
most beautiful night sky i have ever seen in my life (so far)
the tent was supposed to be only for four people, we crammed all 6 of us inside...no one was able to sleep i guess...we were just constantly laughing like maniacs!
the most beautiful sunrise i have ever seen, from the most boring mountain i have ever trekked
taken between the 8th station and the summit
this is the only reason why people climb fuji, to get a glimpse of the sunrise!
i did it for bragging rights! hahahaha!!! nah, i just happened to be free on the weekend the guys invited me!
while the sun was rising on one side, the moon was setting on the other side, THERE WERE MANY PEOPLE ON BOTH SIDES!!!!!
it was cold!!! but we stopped to take sunrise photos ALMOST to the top! these guys are amazing! (photo courtesy of gong www.thepharaohgaijin.blogspot.com)
people, people, rocks, people! we decided to take a nap
the last torii to the summit
there were sooooooo many people there i just cant be bothered to take photos!
people everywhere...
yey we made it!!! we didn't go around the crater though as it would take an hour and a bit to do so...(photo courtesy of gong www.thepharaohgaijin.blogspot.com)
yep the tourist just kept on pouring in no matter how much you tell them that climbing fuji ISNT fun, at all!
if fuji san had been a person, she would have been a bimbo, gorgeous to look from afar until you get close to it and realize how barren it is!
i heart fuji san! to the people i went there with, thank you for being the crazy and funny and gentlemen companion that you were!
