#132 Preparing to Climb Mt Fuji 2016

EDIT: To read about my climbing experience and for details on the Fujinomiya trail please check out my most current post here.


I currently live in Shizuoka Prefecture, which is the “Home of Mt Fuji” (although part of Fuji also lives in Yamanashi Prefecture too!). Since it’s nearby, I decided I had no excuse not to climb Fuji before I leave this summer.

Getting There

Firstly, there are English language tours for around 20,000yen departing regularly from Tokyo, so if you are a tourist I would probably recommend booking one of those for a totally hassle free climb. However, it’s not difficult to do it yourself, as there are daily buses to/from Tokyo all through the climbing season (check out Willer for bus information)

You can also reach the mountain by getting a Shinkansen to Shin-Fuji station, and from there a 2 hour bus.

When to climb

Fuji is only open from around mid July to early September. This short climbing period means it’s always busy. Weekends and basically most of August (from around 10^th to 20^th maybe) are particularly crowded, and it’s possible to wait in line to get to the summit, especially at sunrise when lines can become quite long. I’ll be climbing on a Sunday-Monday because of work restrictions, but ideally I’d have liked to climb mid-week.

Night Hiking or Sleeping Over?

l  Many people choose to hike through the night and reach the summit at sunrise. This is officially not recommended as it can cause more accidents since people are tired and sleepy, and also climbing quickly increases the likelihood of altitude sickness. Despite this, thousands climb at night every year and experience absolutely no problems, and it is a cheaper, easier and faster alternative to sleeping over.

l  I will be sleeping over, mostly because I am worried about altitude sickness and the detrimental effects on my poor fitness level. You need to reserve your space in the hut well in advance of your climb, especially at weekends and the middle of August. Unfortunately many huts still only take phone reservations, and only some speak English. This website lists all the huts on the Fujinomiya route, including information like prices and availability, as usual it’s just in Japanese but is very easy to Google translate. You can also find more basic information on all the routes on the JNTO website.

My mountain hut in 2016

So, you just reserve your place in good faith and pay cash when you arrive. The prices are around 5,500yen for sleeping and 7,500 including breakfast and dinner. Dinner is usually something basic and filling like curry rice, but I have no idea what to expect from breakfast (EDIT; It was bread and not worth the 1,000yen). Dinner is served until around 6pm, since many climbers sleep early and wake up around midnight and in the early hours to climb again in order to reach the summit for sunrise at around 5am.

The huts are in no way glamorous – you will be in a big room in a sleeping bag with 250 people on either side of you. There doesn’t appear to be much personal space and I’m a little concerned about the smell after everyone hiking all day – but I’m sure it’s all an experience! 

I booked the 8^th station (Ikeda Kan) on the Fujinomiya route online via their website – it was in Japanese but I translated it and their confirmation email was in English, presumably because they saw my foreign name. This also leads me to believe that even huts that officially have no English are probably so used to foreigners that they can communicate at least a little.

Fitness Level

Everyone hears stories about children and little old ladies climbing Fuji every year. However, there’s a reason why the Japanese live so long – they are very active into old age, and these little old ladies are probably out doing calisthenics at 6am in the local park every day so it would be foolish to underestimate their fitness level and compare them to the average old ladies in your country.

Now, from what I hear Fuji is not a difficult climb – you don’t need specialist climbing equipment or a Sherpa to help guide you. However, it’s still a mountain and should be treated as such. Taking your time, sleeping over and carrying the appropriate clothing and supplies will make it much easier.

Route

There are five routes total, but to be realistic and save time I’ll only tell you about the two popular routes.

l  Yo shi da – This is the most popular route, probably due to ease of access from Tokyo. It is also the most crowded but has a large amount of facilities such as toilets, huts and stores. It starts from quite low down but the incline is reasonably gentle (for a mountain anyway).

l  Fuji no miya – This is the route I will be climbing (just because it’s nearest my house), and is accessed by Shin-Fuji station. It is the shortest climb to the summit, but it is steeper than Yoshida. My friends said that it took them about 8 hours climbing all night, taking long breaks too. The estimate is about 4-7 hours to climb up and half that to descend.

Equipment and Gear

You need to be prepared for cold weather; although it may be 30 degrees Celsius outside, by the time the bus drops you to the 5th station it's quite high up and already you'll feel a slight chill. If climbing at night be prepared for it to be especially cold. The weather is also said to be very changeable so raingear and a change of clothes is also advisable.

l  Renting: I found Kobe Outdoor (mtfujirental .com) was very useful – their website is modern, fully in English and they deliver to hotels/AirBnBs from 3 days before your climbing date so you have time to change sizes etc, and you can return them within 24 hours of climbing at a convenience store. I have ordered hiking boots from them, so I will update and let you know if they are as good as they seem! (EDIT; They are! Even delivered a day earlier. Great service).

l  Walking Stick – This costs about 1,000 yen and is available at all the stations. You can get it stamped for 200yen at each station on the way up and is a popular souvenir (although awkward to fit in a suitcase coming home perhaps…)
Here's a few other things you should definitely take with you;

l  Hiking boots + thick socks

l  Oxygen cans (available at the base stations but very expensive so buy in advance)

l  Sunscreen

l  Sunglasses + hat

l  Rain coat and pants

l  Thick coat

l  Thermal top + leggings

l  Hat + gloves

l  Headlamp (night hiking)

l  Eye mask + Ear plugs (if sleeping over)
l  As much water as you can carry - prices get to 500yen for 500ml from the 7th station...

Last summer I met a guy with incredible sunburn – turns out he was recently climbing Fuji at night and was so busy preparing his gloves and coat that he forgot that he would be climbing down the mountain in daytime in the height of Japanese summer….needless to say I learned from his mistake and sunscreen and a hat are top of my list!

More Useful Links

• Japan Guide - Mt Fuji
• Official Fuji Website
• JNTO Fuji Information

The famous sunrise - actually seen from the 8th station

#131 JR Pass June 2016

The JR Pass is a discounted railway ticket that allows for almost unlimited travel on trains (including the bullet train) in Japan for a set number of time, usually one or two weeks. It is only available to buy in advance outside Japan (either online or via travel agent) and it is for foreign tourists to Japan.

It is not for people who live/work in Japan. It is not available to buy in Japan.

A 7-day pass is about 29,000 yen and considering the return trip from Tokyo - Kyoto is 26,000 this pass can offer absolutely huge discounts. This is probably also why foreigners coming to Japan for work are so desperately blind to the fact it's unavailable to them. It's hard to accept that you have to pay regular Japanese prices and be bankrupted each train you take.

Anyway, since this is such a recurrent issue with so many people I thought I'd post about it again in case someone has missed it.

The hugely misleading headline of this article from April 2016 led many to believe that you can now buy the JR Pass in Japan.

But if they had actually read the article, they would have seen that what it actually says is “Japan Railways Group (JR Group) plans to make the value-for-money passes available to visitors....”. The key words in the sentence being plans and visitors.

So if you’re coming to Japan on JET or with another English teaching company/just to work in general/live here and do nothing, no you still can’t get the pass. 

And if you have people coming to visit, for now they still have to buy online in advance, and with my inside knowledge of Japanese bureaucracy it’s likely to remain that way for the foreseeable future.

#130 No More Sleeper Trains From KL-SG/SG-KL

As of 19^th May 2016, the timetables have changed and getting the train from Kuala Lumpur to Singapore (or vice-versa) is no longer a viable option.

Unlucky for me, the change was made one day after I finally booked my flights, one arriving into KL and one leaving from SG, which means I need to find another way to get from KL-SG.

You can find more info about the updated timetable here on Seat61: http://www.seat61.com/Malaysia.htm#Train_times

“There are no more overnight sleeping-cars on the Malaysian north-south route. You now need to change at Gemas when travelling from Johor Bahru [Singapore] to KL.”

The new schedule means the train now leaves Kuala Lumpur at 1.22am, and you must get off and switch trains at somewhere called Gemas. You arrive into Gemas at 3.40am but you won’t leave until 4.10am. You’ll arrive into Johur Bahru [Singapore] at 8.10am.

While not impossible to do, the very late departure time and changes in the middle of the night now makes this route a no-go for most people, including me. If you’re still interested, the total trip costs around 52rm (11eur).

The Bus

Since you couldn’t book the sleeper train until one month before departure, I had previously decided to also look up alternative options should I be unable to book online in advance, or the train be fully booked. I could always get a flight, but that would waste time and be more expensive. Thankfully, there’s a bus.

The bus from KL to SG takes around 5 hours (estimates range from 4.5-5.5hrs depending on traffic) and costs range from 30-45sgd (20-29eur), but the average is 37sgd (24eur). Just like with the train, it is more expensive to go from SG to KL, so keep that in mind. It appears you can book the bus much further in advance, at least 3 months, and I have read that they work with foreign credit cards.

Most of the buses appear to be luxurious. There are large, individual, reclining seats with lots of legroom, built-in massage functions, entertainment system and charging point. It is similar to first or business class on an airplane, and totally different from your average bus in most countries! They also provide water, hot drinks and a meal during the journey, and make rest stops for the bathroom along the way.

The first buses leave KL at 7am (arriving around midday) and cost 37sgd (24eur), and the last bus leaves 11.30pm. Since the journey is only around 5 hours, it would mean arriving into SG around 5am, which unless you’re heading straight to the airport I obviously wouldn’t recommend.

The buses from KL usually leave at Berjaya Times Square (a central hub of the city and near many hostels and hotels) and arrive into SG at Golden Mile Complex, a mall which is a 5min walk from Nicholls Highway MRT station so convenient for transfers.

The bus ticketing sites I found are busonlineticket.com  and easybook.com. I have yet to use these sites so I cannot verify their trustworthiness, but easybook seems to be…well…easy to use, but busonlineticket is quite similar, and the times/prices are all the same. You can also book direct from the company, so it might be a better idea to use the aforementioned sites to find the bus you want, and then book it directly from the company.

I have read many reviews online about Transtar Soliataire bus service, and that is also the one that leaves first at 7am, so I will likely get that one. However, I have also read some reviews that said the bus was an hour late. This would be very unfortunate, as I had first planned to take the train and arrive in SG at 9am, and now it will be around 12pm earliest. I have seen mentions of Aeroline, but when I look at the bus options on the ticketing sites it is not one of them, so perhaps it only works SG-KL direction.

While at first I was obviously annoyed my best laid plans have come apart, and that I’ll now have to spend more money on an extra night in a hostel and a more expensive bus ticket, and also that I will be arriving into SG a few hours later than expected, it’s not all bad.

The bus looks like a fun experience, and by Western standards the ticket is very cheap. It’s also easier than trying to figure out the Johur Bahru-Woodlands shuttle, and the new collection and drop-off points are very close to both my hostels in KL and SG.

Basically, I’m just glad I noticed the timetable change now and can figure out the bus and book another night at my hostel. I’m just worried for people who were expecting to get on the sleeper train soon and have not been made aware of the changes.

UPDATE: I took the Transtar bus from KL to SG last week. It was a good bus and good service, the only downside was it took the full 7 hours - we left 7am and arrived 2pm.