Trek to Mt. Fuji and visiting Japan's infamous forest - Suicide forest

We left from Koriyama to Shinjuku (place near Tokyo) by 9:35 bus and catching next bus for Fuji-Subaru line 5th station, we reached destination on time at 18:20. As Japanese being famous for time following, we didn't had any trouble during journey. Fuji Subaru 5th station is one of the starting point for hiking Fuji and most famous. It is at around 2000 meters from sea level. We changed into clothes for hike and ate something. Then started climbing around 19:45. The initial part was very easy. Gentle ascend, cool breeze, soil but with tiny stones and night view of near by towns. The path was actually crowded as it was weekend. As we climbed, it was more sand and with bigger stones and walking was little difficult. Some distance before 7th station, there is a steep climb. But because of support chains, it is quite possible to climb that part. Around 7th station, there are some stalls, selling drinks, fruits, instant noodles. These also offer a place to sleep if booked in advance. Many people who start climbing in day light around 4 o'clock in the evening cover maximum distance possible till 8th station and take rest in these huts/stations. Then start climbing again early morning around 2:30 or 3 to see the sunrise. Me and my friend, both have good stamina, so we didn't had to take much rest. We took total rest for 15-20 minutes but kept going at steady pace. The part after 8th station was the most difficult. As you are at height more than 3000 meters, oxygen is less; slope is moderate but it's all stony. So you can't walk normally and feet slip every now and then. This path is very narrow. So long queue was formed and you have to walk one by one. Last 500 meters were a test for my patience. I was tired by that time but still summit wasn't yet near. I was just telling myself 'one step at a time' every now and then to keep me motivated.

Finally I saw the Torii gate, entrance of the summit. It was around 1:45 am. It took around 6 hours to reach summit. I bought a hot coffee from vending machine to warm myself. It was chilly at summit. But I was prepared for that, thanks to friends who had warned me about it. Found a place to sit on bench. There are some benches kept facing east to see the sunrise. If you reach early ( by 3:00 o'clock. Sunrise time is around 4-4:30) you can get a good place. That day sunrise was at 4:30. More than 2 hours had to be spent in cold. I tried to sleep for some time but couldn't sleep at all becomes of the cold. We kept talking for sometime. Those 2 hours seemed to take ages and we kept waiting for the sun. Normally, we hate when Sun rises early disturbing our sleep, but that day we were praying for it to rise early. Around 3:45, sky in the east started to change colour. It was just a orange dot in the beginning. Then it became sky blue around it. After sometime, whole horizon was light sky blue and orange dot was a bigger now. Then some white rays were streaming through the clouds and finally the entire Sun was visible. The whole process was mesmerizing and made me to forget about all the efforts I took to reach at summit. For sometime, I forgot about all the pain in the body, the cold weather, my appetite (I hadn't eaten much to avoid trouble during climb). When the Sun was all up, Japanese people greeted it with some gesture and I came back to my senses. First thing I did, was to stand in queue in front of ramen shop. Yes, there is ramen shop at summit serving hot noodles and other Japanese foods. When a bowl of hot miso soup along ramen noodles went into my stomach, I was satisfied and refreshed. We then went to see the crater. No surprise there. Just like surrounding area, it is filled with rocks. After taking some photos at summit, we started climbing down.

Next stop was 'Iyashi no sato Nemba'. An old village destroyed during landslide, reconstructed as open air museum. There are around 20 buildings with thatched roof, everyone displaying different forms of Japanese culture/art, like pottery, metal works, glass works, Japanese handmade fans, incense sticks. When lady in incense shops knew that I was from India, she greeted me with 'Namaste' - Indian greeting. She showed me sandal wood imported from India. It takes around 1 hour to see all buildings. When you get down at bus stop, check for bus timings to return. Buses are available at intervals of 30 mins. So, if you miss one just by a minute, you will need to wait for half an hout till next bus. I reached bus stop at exact time, boarded the bus to find that it was wrong bus. So, I got down at some bus stop from where I could get bus for wind and ice caves.

Wind cave was used as storage for silk worm at old times when electric refrigeration was not yet available. Natural ice during winter, would be stored in this cave. As temperature in side cave is below 0 degrees around the year, ice would remain as it. Ice cave is 2-3 mins by car from wind cave. You can also walk by highway for 15-20 mins or take a trail through forest (20 mins). I checked the time, had missed the bus by 4 minutes. So I took trail to reach ice cave. It was crowded here and I had to wait in queue for 30 minutes. This also wasn't that big cave. Climb down 90 stairs and come back. But at some places it was very narrow, around 90 cm in height, that we have to sit then move ahead inch by inch, so that not to bang head against cave wall (Safety helmets are provided at the entrance). When I came out of the cave, it was 15:15 and next bus for Kawaguchiko station was at 15:35 from wind cave. I had to run to catch that bus and reached station around 16:15. Bus for Shinjuku was at 17:15. So, I got some time to ate and take rest. But bus got late and left around 17:30.As we reached highway, I was relaxed. Thinking that I had a good trip. I will catch next from Shinjuku on time and will rest properly at home to get ready for office next day. But that was just for few minutes. Around 6 o'clock bus got very slow. When I looked outside, saw long queue of vehicles in front of bus. I checked on Google maps, for expected time duration to reach Shinjuku and it showed more than 2 hours due traffic jam. Sigh!... It took away all the happiness. In the beginning of the post I praised for punctuality but sometimes there are delays too. It might be because of national holiday and a popular destination - Fuji Q highland amusement park on the same road. I reached Shinjuku at 21:00 and my bus for Koriyama was at 20:00. I checked for Shinkansen schedule and last train was at 21:44 from Tokyo. I ran to station, caught train for Tokyo, bought tickets for Koriyama, and running again went to platform and sat in the train. I settled and then saw notification board inside train - ' This train is bound for Niigata'. It was going in opposite direction. I got out immediately and got into train on opposite platform. I double checked if it was correct one. When I assured my self, settled down, and went asleep fast......

Note: All images used in this post are shot by me.