This week is summer festival time. On Saturday went to the biggest firework display in Tokyo. Its on a very Tokyo scale - lasting over an hour and with 20,000 fireworks and of course you get to behave like sardines. Since I have to admit, fireworks to me are pretty for a while and then too samey, and then slightly boring, I wasn't really into the true spirit of this festival. And the green side of me can't help but feel its a lot of expense and a lot of unnecessary pollution!
However,I wasn't all bah humbug and since it was a good excuse to get a big group of extended friends together for some beers by the river, I could hardly complain! And the Japanese women who usually dress up in traditional yukata for this season looked very beautiful indeed.
One of my students wants to get me dressed up after school this week in Yukata so there may be some interesting photos to follow...
In other news - I am going on holiday with my family to Turkey for one week starting next Monday. Am very very very excited!
Monday, July 31, 2006
Tuesday, July 18, 2006
Mt. Fuji
Yessss! I have conquered the highest peak in Japan!! And at 3776 metres, the highest I have ever climbed.
Mt Fuji looks like such a beautiful mountain in all the famous pictures of it - gently sloping, perfectly symmetrical, mystical and colourful. I can assure anyone that it is a whole different picture up close!!
We set off from Tokyo on Sunday morning at 6 after having had very little sleep. Arrived in the area soon after 8 but had to queue at what is known as the fifth station (where most people set off to climb from - at about 2200 metres) to find a parking place. We eventually opted for a spot 2.5 kilometres away - a mere hop skip and jump on fresh legs, which ours were most certainly not by the end!
After faffing around for a while, we were on our way by 11am. Later than hoped and we were not sure we'd have time to make the summit in time to come down before it got dark. However, we did make quite a good pace. It is bloody hard work though. The weather stayed dry for us but there was a terrific wind blowing near the top which would occasionally blow you off your feet and you'd have to redo valuable paces. Its not a pretty mountain - the rock is volcanic of course and either dusty rubble (hard to climb or get a good grip) or dangerously spiky, hard and potentially dangerous rock. Its a real scramble and with the wind so strong, there were times when all you could do was cling to the mountainside for fear it would blow you away. Also past 3000 metres, you really start to notice the lack of oxygen in the atmosphere and towards the summit, it was a real struggle for me to move each foot a small distance. Knackered does not do justice to how we felt!
I had one moment near the top, where we were all on our own (I went with another English woman and two Japanese men) plodding along at our own pace, where I started cursing violently for putting myself through this! One of the guys I was with was doing it for the third time! It was really really tough and I'm not sure what was keeping me going at times!
We reached the summit by 4.20pm - faster than the average 6 hours - which was great. There is a restaurant at the top - and we were lucky to catch it just before it closed (I feel for the poor souls who were battling their way up after us). It is a very welcome shelter and they served us with hot soups, or noodles. Its very Japanese, but it caters for the tourists - apparently during peak season (and Fuji is only open to climbers for 2 months of the year) around 2000 people climb it everyday. So its clearly good for business. It is certainly not a quiet maountin - with people all around you, but we were wise enough to avoid the main masses who try to climb it in the evening and to reach the summit for sunrise. It sounds very beautiful watching the hundreds of headlamps trudge up in a line and to watch sunrise from the top, but I have also heard that you then have to queue a long time just to get to the top - and the way we were feeling when we got there - it doesn't bear thinking about.
It was an immensely rewarding feeling reaching the top though. We were in the clouds but occasionally the wind was so strong it would blow the clouds away and we got a spectacular view accross the valley and mountains below.
We opted out of the extra hours hike around the circle of the crater and set off at a very brisk pace down the more boring route. Its all scree and loose stones - very hard work to climb up but easy to come down. It was endless zigzags on paths that were always the same. It seemed to go on forever and it wasnt long before we slowed right down owing to tired legs. Again it became a battle of wills and it was a case of heads down grin and bear it. My legs were shattered and wobbly, I had a stinking headache brought on by the altitude (luckily I had no sickness) and it was getting late! At one point we took a wrong turn and had to scramble up only about 20 metres height - but at the late stage in the day, it nearly killed me!
It did get dark before we got back to the car and we had to use torches to see our way. Towards the end we were met by hoardes of happy, laughing fresh-legged climbers ready to do it for sunrise - and were able to breathe a sigh of relief that it wasnt us! Plus we reckoned that celebrating with a beer when you get down at 9 in the morning is perhaps a little strange!
We got back to the car just before 9, absolutely exhausted. What reserves of energy we were using for the last couple of hours I have no idea, but somehow you just know that you have to get back to the car. It took us 3.5 hours to get down - a little over the average 3 hours. All in all though it was a full 10 hours out. One of my students had given me a pedometre a while back and I decided to take it with me. We did about 66000 paces that day!
We stayed overnight in a lovely hotel - with our own private onsen (hot spring), massive plasma TV, and most importantly comfortable beds! The beer, warmth, comfort, good food and shelter were very very welcome!
I am really pleased to have done this. I was born into a walking family and climbed Mt. Snowdon when I was three, yet this was really a great challenge for me and feel very proud to have done it!
Spent a short while the next day visiting the surrounding lakes (very beautiful) and gift shopping before heading back to Tokyo. Yattaaaa!
Mt Fuji looks like such a beautiful mountain in all the famous pictures of it - gently sloping, perfectly symmetrical, mystical and colourful. I can assure anyone that it is a whole different picture up close!!
We set off from Tokyo on Sunday morning at 6 after having had very little sleep. Arrived in the area soon after 8 but had to queue at what is known as the fifth station (where most people set off to climb from - at about 2200 metres) to find a parking place. We eventually opted for a spot 2.5 kilometres away - a mere hop skip and jump on fresh legs, which ours were most certainly not by the end!
After faffing around for a while, we were on our way by 11am. Later than hoped and we were not sure we'd have time to make the summit in time to come down before it got dark. However, we did make quite a good pace. It is bloody hard work though. The weather stayed dry for us but there was a terrific wind blowing near the top which would occasionally blow you off your feet and you'd have to redo valuable paces. Its not a pretty mountain - the rock is volcanic of course and either dusty rubble (hard to climb or get a good grip) or dangerously spiky, hard and potentially dangerous rock. Its a real scramble and with the wind so strong, there were times when all you could do was cling to the mountainside for fear it would blow you away. Also past 3000 metres, you really start to notice the lack of oxygen in the atmosphere and towards the summit, it was a real struggle for me to move each foot a small distance. Knackered does not do justice to how we felt!
I had one moment near the top, where we were all on our own (I went with another English woman and two Japanese men) plodding along at our own pace, where I started cursing violently for putting myself through this! One of the guys I was with was doing it for the third time! It was really really tough and I'm not sure what was keeping me going at times!
We reached the summit by 4.20pm - faster than the average 6 hours - which was great. There is a restaurant at the top - and we were lucky to catch it just before it closed (I feel for the poor souls who were battling their way up after us). It is a very welcome shelter and they served us with hot soups, or noodles. Its very Japanese, but it caters for the tourists - apparently during peak season (and Fuji is only open to climbers for 2 months of the year) around 2000 people climb it everyday. So its clearly good for business. It is certainly not a quiet maountin - with people all around you, but we were wise enough to avoid the main masses who try to climb it in the evening and to reach the summit for sunrise. It sounds very beautiful watching the hundreds of headlamps trudge up in a line and to watch sunrise from the top, but I have also heard that you then have to queue a long time just to get to the top - and the way we were feeling when we got there - it doesn't bear thinking about.
It was an immensely rewarding feeling reaching the top though. We were in the clouds but occasionally the wind was so strong it would blow the clouds away and we got a spectacular view accross the valley and mountains below.
We opted out of the extra hours hike around the circle of the crater and set off at a very brisk pace down the more boring route. Its all scree and loose stones - very hard work to climb up but easy to come down. It was endless zigzags on paths that were always the same. It seemed to go on forever and it wasnt long before we slowed right down owing to tired legs. Again it became a battle of wills and it was a case of heads down grin and bear it. My legs were shattered and wobbly, I had a stinking headache brought on by the altitude (luckily I had no sickness) and it was getting late! At one point we took a wrong turn and had to scramble up only about 20 metres height - but at the late stage in the day, it nearly killed me!
It did get dark before we got back to the car and we had to use torches to see our way. Towards the end we were met by hoardes of happy, laughing fresh-legged climbers ready to do it for sunrise - and were able to breathe a sigh of relief that it wasnt us! Plus we reckoned that celebrating with a beer when you get down at 9 in the morning is perhaps a little strange!
We got back to the car just before 9, absolutely exhausted. What reserves of energy we were using for the last couple of hours I have no idea, but somehow you just know that you have to get back to the car. It took us 3.5 hours to get down - a little over the average 3 hours. All in all though it was a full 10 hours out. One of my students had given me a pedometre a while back and I decided to take it with me. We did about 66000 paces that day!
We stayed overnight in a lovely hotel - with our own private onsen (hot spring), massive plasma TV, and most importantly comfortable beds! The beer, warmth, comfort, good food and shelter were very very welcome!
I am really pleased to have done this. I was born into a walking family and climbed Mt. Snowdon when I was three, yet this was really a great challenge for me and feel very proud to have done it!
Spent a short while the next day visiting the surrounding lakes (very beautiful) and gift shopping before heading back to Tokyo. Yattaaaa!
Okinawa
I spent four days on one of the many sub-tropical islands to the south-west of the main Japanese islands, called Ishigaki-jima. We were able to escape the rainy season which had already been and gone there, and which gave way to gloriously stinking hot summer days!
Day one - went for a walk and a quick swim in the turquoise sea. Sampled the local 'goya champuru' made from tofu and bitter gourds - very tasty, as were the pineapples, mangoes, Okinawan doughnuts and local beer. The food there is amazing - really healthy and really tasty. Lots of seaweed, noodles (often spicy) and fish. That evening ate in an Italian inspired Okinawan restaurant. Had pasta and pizza made with local ingredients such as seafood, and a seaweed salad - I had no idea that so many different types of seaweed were edible!
Day two - took a ferry accross the waters to a smaller island called Taketomi-jima. Hired bikes and cycled a quick tour of beach - lovely turquoise waters - restaurants and gift shops. They also have a local tourist bus - which is pulled along very very very slowly by water buffalo which looked about ready to die in the heat! Poor things!
The icecreams were great - sweet potato flavour - which was naturally bright purple in colour, mango, passion fruit, local Okinawan lime, and natural sugar cane flavours. Yummy.
Got a bit of heat-stroke that day as the sun is very powerful there.
Day three - got up and drove around to the other side of the island. We had booked snorkling and kayaking through the mangroves. Snorkling was wonderful - I have neved seen so many tropical fish, including Nimo!! We fed them with a kind of fish sausage. Whe they get bold enough they come up and attack you! My friend's hand was bleeding slightly as a fish misjudged her hand for sausage! The coral was aslo lovely.
Kayaking through mangroves was cool. We were led there by an instructor who told us all about the plants and animals. There were hundreds upon hundreds of crabs on the muddy banks, and also 'Tontonmi' which is a local word for a kind of flying fish - I liked their bug-eyes and the way they jumped!
Had lunch in a super restaurant with great views over the sea.
Souvenir shopping - including the local Shisar - which have derived from the kind of guardians which can be seen at the entrance to temples. The locals on Ishigaki have turned them into wonderfully imaginative and colourful creatures, some of which are very funny. They can be seen on the roofs of most of the houses - they look very playful.
Next a trip into some caves. Nice to do - but the concreted trail, music and fairy lights distracted somewhat from their natural beauty.
Had a Korean barbeque in the evening followed by an hours karaoke - now become a compulsory holiday activity!
Vacated the hotel too early the next day. Set off for a last swim in the sea, a bit of souvenir shopping - including buying the most expensive piece of fruit ever - 6 pounds for a mango - but it was worth it as it tasted amazing! and returned to the airport.
Ishigaki is well worth the visit - the food is amazing, the weather and scenery very beautiful and generally a very welcome relaxing break from Tokyo. I had never been anywhere as exotic so that was also a treat for me.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
