Fuji, Part II

Where I left off in Part I my friends and I were resting at the 9th station. We were about 5.5 hours in and so almost at the end - the summit - in time for the sunrise. People who climb Fuji during the summer season know that it will be crowded; common knowledge that floats around advises people to allot extra time going from 9-10 because the sheer number of climbers on the mountain really slows things down. It was no different for us; I estimate that there were hundreds if not just short of a thousand people on Fuji-san that night. As a result, moving up was slow going; literally stop and go. We had passed the hardcore rock climbing section at this point but the trail was still part rock and part path so in areas I would literally put one foot up on a rock and then stop mid climb; wait half a minute if not more, then continue with my other foot. I might make it a few steps before repeating the process a few minutes later. While we were doing this routine the sky began to lighten. Although the moon was still out the bottoms of the sky started transforming from midnight black to a deep, deep, pre-dawn blue. We could see the summit, but we could also see the thick zig-zag trail of climbers winding up the path so we decided to find a good spot on the side of the mountain from which we'd be able to observe the sunrise. And observe the sunrise we did. It was stunning! I've seen sunrises before, but never from so high up. Being 3,750-odd meters above sea level offered an unrivaled experience, an unparalleled view of the true expanse of the sky, an opportunity to see the sunrise, in all its deliberate and glorious beauty, face-to-face.

We came. We marveled. And then we rested. We hopped back on the trail intending to power up to the top but the way was still ridiculously crowded so chose another spot where we could eat, drink, have oxygen, and rest. It was so nice - just hanging out, talking, joking and eating with my friends but with an amazing view as both backdrop and centerpiece. We were all pretty tired - of course, because we had just spent over 5 hours climbing up a mountain, but also because we had essentially pulled an all-nighter! All of us woke up Thursday morning as usual, but none of us were that successful in taking a nap; personally I got about 40 minutes of sleep on the bus. So finally we slept. We slept on the side of Mt. Fuji after witnessing an incredible event, and then literally basking in its glow.

There was still a little bit of a crowd left after we woke up (we didn't sleep very long), but it didn't take us inordinately long to reach the top. When we finally got to the top we walked around a bit and then Amber and Jim went off to look for a bathroom. I sat down with the bags... and fell asleep. When I woke up Jim was back but Amber wasn't, and I felt sick; really nauseous. I put my head down to sleep but I just kept feeling sick. I took some oxygen but I just felt overwhelmingly sick. After a few minutes I was able to sleep a little bit, or rather, I closed my eyes and found space in my head to forget my discomfort. After a little while I woke up, felt better, looked around and found Amber and Jim sitting not far away. I joined them and then we got up to take a look around the top of Mt. Fuji.

There was quite a bit of a marketplace up there, and I considered some souvenirs but exploring was a much higher priority. I was still feeling mildly nauseatic, but nothing too strong. We walked down and peered into the crater, took some fun pictures, then walked over to some torii (wooden gates signifying a shrine) and took more pictures. Next up: the post office. The post office at the top of Mt. Fuji is the second highest in the world, and all three of us had postcards to send. We asked an old man where it was and he pointed towards a small hill and said to go up there and then about 25 meters; that’s where the post office would be. By then the altitude sickness had kicked in again and I didn’t feel up to it. Amber offered to take my postcards up for me, and I found a nice rock in the sunshine to sleep on in the meantime.

I woke up feeling worse than before. It was bad. Nearly simultaneously I felt like I was going to faint, and then vomit. I shot my hand out to the nearest rock to steady myself as I felt my head getting light and my vision cloudy. I clutched my hand to my mouth wondering if I was going to see the trail mix and peanut butter and banana sandwiches that I ate earlier. After those moments passed I thought ok, what am I going to do? I can’t just faint out here on the rock. Nobody’s going to notice, much less help me; and I can’t let my friends find me crumpled and unconscious on some rock. I can’t vomit out here either. I’m not in the midnight streets of Tokyo, where nobody chastises the retching salaryman or the dangerously wasted student – because that was them last week, or will be in the future. No, I couldn’t stay out there. I was reluctant to go to the bathroom – because they charged you for it – but go there I did. Between gathering my money and handing it to the attendant I put my head down on the small counter to steady myself, and briefly passed out. He started shouting at me and so I woke up and went to go hug a toilet for a little while – just in case. But these were traditional Japanese-style toilets (a hole in the ground), and while I wanted to vomit I was in no way in a state of mind that would allow me to take the necessary precautions. Basically, I was too sober to camp out next to the toilet. Luckily there was a wide wooden bench right inside the entrance that I conveniently passed out on.

Wake-up! Wake-up! You’re sick - you have to go down! Down the mountain! The old man was shouting at me again; no doubt he’d seen this happen before. Another man was standing nearby; he spoke English and attempted to explain to me what the old man was trying to communicate but I already understood what was going on. I explained to him that I knew I was sick but that I couldn’t leave because my friends weren’t back from the post office. Such a helpful man, he offered to take me to a little inn that was part of the market elsewhere on the mountaintop. I wanted to leave a note for my friends though, just to let them know that I wasn’t in the vicinity of the bathroom, and as I was doing that I looked up and finally saw them walking down the hill. As it turns out the post office wasn’t 25 meters, it was 250! I quickly explained to them that I needed to leave ASAP and leave we did. Eschewing souvenirs we peeled off our mountain-at-midnight layers, stuffed them into our bags, and began the descent to the 5^th station.