The list is building and there are about 6 of us that want the challenge!!
A couple of days before the big climb the list has narrowed down to 4. We have Carlos, he's the dude from Mexico also known as "THU DAWG", and then we have Jey-J., this funky man's from Hawaii and always ready to groove it baby, there's also a pommy geeza, this chap is from England with the beard ..... "stop playing games", ( on the train we were trying to pull the beard off because we thought it was a fake one ... but it's not!! ) Last but not least, a guy that's always in for a buzz, a laugh or just a good bevvy session, Craig, a wild and out there type of fella who doesn't give a rat's arse what goes down!! :))
Now that the introductions are finished I'll get on with the story.
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| Alex!! Warming up!? Or just seriously drunk!? |
History shows that if you meet your friends at Shinjuku station at 7am it gives you plenty of time to get really drunk before heading up the highest mountain in Japan. So we all met at the station at 7am! The first round of beer was bought as we waited for the stragglers to arrive. By the time 8 O'clock had arrived everyone is there and we are all on our way to getting rather drunk. Now the question is raised as to which train we have to catch. The first to come up with an answer was " I don't know " followed by a " Errr, I'm not really sure ", then it was " Lets go and ask someone " .... but Jey-J. was having none of this!! He drinks the rest of his beer down, pulls out his mobile phone and punches in a bunch of info and says to the group " Right boys, we have to get on such and such platform and head towards Saitama ". This got me thinking so I asked why that way and Jey-J. replies that it's the cheapest way to get there, it's a bit long he says but we'll get there eventually and I have navigation on my phone. Saitama is where I live and it seems that it's in the totally wrong direction. But Jey-J. has his navigation system cruising over time on his phone .... and .... computers are never wrong, right!?
Next stop is the conbini to top up our beer supply for the train. Plenty is bought and a good time ahead of us seems more than likely!! :))
On the train we start to ROCK!! The atmosphere is rumbling along as fast as the train is going and we are all having a blast of a time :) Saitama rolls by, and we are almost in Gunma when the train makes a pit stop for about 10 or so minutes. Toilet time, big time!! Everyone dashes for the toilet and noises of immense relief are heard all over the station. More beer is bought and we rumble on our way again. Now we are in Gunma, we are totally sloshed and having a whale of a time. Alex is entertaining us all with chat up lines to the poor unsuspecting passengers while doing pull ups on the hand holds above the seats, teeth baring white through his massive beard! :))
We have been on the train now for about 3 hours or so. Gunma is upon us now and the train stops at another station for a small amount of time and it's a mad dash to the toilet again. After, while waiting for the train to leave, a lady sitting opposite us asks us where we are going. Very merrily we reply we are on our way to climb Mt. Fuji. A slight shock of amusement flashes across her face as she quite happily tells us that we are going in the wrong direction. There was a silence among us for the briefest of moments as what was said surely couldn't be true. Carlos pipes up with " Naaa, Jey-J.'s navigation says this is the right way because he put in the information on how to get there" .... " Yeah", I say to back up what Carlos had said, "It's a little long but we are heading in a kind of circle through 4 different prefectures to get there". But the lady insists that we are heading the wrong way and asks to see what was typed into Jey-J.'s phone. "There" she says, " You are all going to Fujimi Panorama, it's a different Fuji".
Said in unison by 4 extremely drunk guys: NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!
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| Back at Shinjuku Station for the 2nd time ... Jey-J. on the phone to God!! -- " Help me, these guys want me to go to Mt. Fuji with them!!" |
OK, we are back at Shinjuku station and we are completely exhausted!! It's just after mid-day, we are still drunk, a little tired and now we are hungry!!
Lunch eaten, more toilet time done and we are now heading this time in the right direction :)) This time is the real thing. Mt. Fuji, here we come!! Jey-J.'s navi has us pointing in the right direction this time ...... maybe!?
Alright guys we made it, now we have to catch a bus for this last section up to the stage 5. From stage 5 that's when we walk to the top. We catch the bus from that place over there. Inside we walk up to the counter and ask for 4 tickets to stage 5. But the lady behind the counter tells us some shocking news!! The buses stopped running about 2 hours ago!! HOLY %#*+!!!! Outside AGAIN, we discuss our options. But wait, ..... there's a protest! Jey-J. wants to go back to Tokyo!! It takes a good 15 minutes of our sweetest talking to get the J to stay. Phew!! That was close :) .... we had gone and come so far in one day that it seemed a bit of a waste just to go back to Tokyo now.
Now there are 4 guys, so it seams reasonable that 4 suggestions would come up on how to get to Stage 5 to start our climb.
Alex opens the bidding and states that we should walk the 15 KMs. That was quickly closed down as taking too much time out of our hectic day.
I pipe up with the suggestion that we hitch hike there. It's reasonable and shouldn't take too much time. Again, that was closed down.
Carlos comes up with the idea of renting a car. Brilliant idea but I don't think they would let a bunch of drunk, half homeless looking backpacker types that look like they haven't slept for a couple of days rent a car!! :)) ... and they didn't. Carlos and Alex went to ask ... they soon walked out empty handed!! :)
Jey-J.'s option was to catch a taxi. Yeah that's OK but it will cost a small fortune.
So in the end as we were running out of time and options it was decided after a bit of haggling with the nearest taxi driver we could find .... to .... catch a cab. We made it to Stage 5 and it cost us 10,000 yen. Not to bad I suppose considering the state we were in and what we had been through just to get there ...... you know ... half way round Japan and through 5 or 6 different prefectures ... Jey-J. knows the way, it says on his phone navigation!! :))
That night we climbed to the top of Mt. Fuji, camped on top and watched the sun rise, although it was kind of cloudy so we didn't see much in the way of picture postcard scenes, but it was one hell of a trip. We also met another of our friends up there ... of all people we see Justin!! Man that guy gets around!! When we got back to stage 5 the next morning we celebrated with lots of beer, a bottle of red wine that Carlos had lugged up and down again, and with a bottle of champagne that I had lugged up and down again ... not to mention half way around Japan and through 5 or 6 prefectures .... Jey-J. knows the way, it says on his phone navigation!! :))
Closing comment: Having done a lot of travelling and experienced a lot of interesting situations, I have to say this was one of the most amusing journeys I've ever done ... we had such a blast, we all stuck together and we all came out of it having a really enjoyable time!! .... all thanks to Jey-J. and his navigation ... cheers mate :))
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