14th – 20th June 2016
 |
| Sakurajima Volcano |
I had spent my time so far in Japan in its busy
cities. It was time now to explore the wilder side of the country. I caught the
Shinkansen (bullet train) from Hiroshima down to Kagoshima which is next to one of the world’s
most active volcanoes. It has been erupting regularly every few weeks for a
while so I was hoping to see a volcanic eruption first hand. This is certainly
something I have always longed to see.
After I had checked into my hostel I hiked up
to a viewpoint to admire of the view of the impressive Sakurajima Volcano. As I
sat there I imagined it exploding in a major eruption and how truly magnificent
and terrifying it would be. The kind of eruption I was hoping for wouldn’t be
anywhere near this kind of scale. More of a fart but it would still be cool to see.
 |
| On the ferry over |
The next day I caught the ferry over to the
once isolated island. It’s quite populated which is surprising given the danger
the people face. There’s schools and everything. Everyone has a bunker in their
back garden and the kids have hard hats as part of their school uniform. The
highly fertile soil makes the risk worth taking.
 |
| Random dinosaurs |
There’s a couple of ways to get around the
island but the cheapest is a bicycle. I found one café that lets you use a bike
for free if you pay for a drink so I bought myself a can of beer and off I went.
 |
| Stunning flowers |
 |
| Beautiful |
The first stop was the Dinosaur Park which I
found quite random. It was up a hill and had many statues of dinosaurs as well
as these bright blue flowers.
 |
| Around the other side |
The road circling the mountain is over 40km
long so it was going to be a big day. It was a little hillier than I would have
liked but not a complete surprise. It was nice to do something a bit different.
 |
| Steaming |
About half way around you could see into the
active volcano crater. Sakurajima actually has two craters but only one was
smoking at the time. As I was looking up at it there was suddenly a big BOOM!
 |
| Not really |
Nah, but that would have been incredibly
exciting. I read a sign that told me that the white smoke that was seeping out
meant that it is literally letting off steam and there is no threat of
eruption.
 |
| Still snoring |
 |
| Buried by ash |
A bit further round I found some more info and
the mountain’s dramatic past. There was a huge eruption in 1914 that covered
the island and the nearby town of Kagoshima in ash. It buried whole towns. This
torii gate has been left half buried in the two metres of ash that fell. The
volcano also spewed so much lava that it permanently welded the island onto the
peninsular.
 |
| no longer an island |
The second half of the circular route was much
hillier that the first half so I was well and truly knackered by the time I got
back to the village. I popped into the museum which had a little video of life
on Sakurajima. I had really was hoping to see sort of eruption but it had been
a good trip all the same.
 |
| Miserable weather |
The next day was a long travel day but I didn’t
mind as the weather was well and truly miserable. Apparently mid-June to
mid-July is the wet season in Japan so I was worried it might scupper my plans.
 |
| Mt Fuji |
I arrived in the town of Fujikawaguchiklo
to admire the majestic Mt Fuji. It was quite the sight and I was really lucky
with the weather. I met a girl in the hostel and she had been there five days
already and hadn’t seen the mountain at all. I also met someone else in the
hostel which made for a brilliant small world type story.
I saw a guy watching the England V Wales match
on a PC which I was struggling to find on my laptop. I asked him if he minded
if I joined him. It turned out that not only is he from Morecambe he also went
to the same school as me! We had a few friends in common too. Out of all the
years I’ve been travelling the world had never been as small as in that moment.
We had a fun evening talking about home and watch England’s only successful
game of the tournament.
 |
| Fuji Five Lakes |
The next day my new friend Alex and I went for
a wander around the town. There was a cable car going up to a viewpoint but my backpacker
instinct kicked in and we opted for the hike instead. We weren’t too confident
of the way as there were only small signs in Japanese on the trail but we made
it. The top was full of Asian tourists admiring the view of Mt Fuji.
 |
| Going for a walk around the lake |
 |
| Impressive volcano |
We went for a little wander around the lake
before heading back to the hostel to make a plan for the Mt Fuji ascent. There’s
lots of information on how not to climb the mountain. Advice such as don’t
climb all the way to the top in one day and don’t do it outside of climbing
season. Both pieces of advice we planned to ignore. There a few success stories
around the hostel so we were encouraged to give it a go.
 |
| Ready to hitch |
There are regular buses that go up to the 5th
station which is where you would normally start the hike. However, in
non-climbing season, the first bus and last bus of the day aren’t far enough
apart for you to have time to complete the hike. I think that’s intentional. So
instead Alex and I attempted to hitchhike.
 |
| At 5th Station |
A couple of cars stopped but weren’t going up
as far as the 5th Station. After almost 45 minutes we were considering
giving up and heading for the bus stop anyway but then a Japanese couple saved
us. They were very nice people. They had driven from Tokyo to spend the day on
the mountain. There were a lot of shops at the station. It was more of a small
village really and there were already quite a few people there when we arrived
 |
| Ignoring the warning signs |
We walked past all the shops to the start of
the trail where we found many ‘closed’ and ‘do not enter’ signs. It was quite
off putting. We took the meaning to be that all the huts are closed until 1st
July and there would be no help. As we weren’t staying a night we figured it
would be alright. We also saw people hiking ahead of us. Feeling reassured we
ploughed on. We could always turn back.
 |
| Hiking above the clouds |
 |
| Across lava flows |
 |
| And sandy ash |
 |
| It was very steep |
Up and up we climbed. First through a lush
forest and then over big lava flows before trampling through sandy ash. It was
hard work and it got harder and harder the higher we climbed.
 |
| Snow! |
The last part nearly killed me. At 3776m it was
the highest spot I’ve ever hiked. Its a full 1000m more than Mt Ruapehu in New Zealand. The lack of oxygen was
apparent and I was breathing hard. I had to stop several times to catch my
breath. Alex seemed to be ok with it and went on to the top. This is why they
advise against the one day hike. If I had had to ascend another 1000 metres I
would have called it a day but I had only 200 metres left to go so I wasn’t going to be defeated.
 |
| Made it to the top! |
Slowly but surely I made my way to the top and
I am so pleased to be able to say I have conquered Mt Fuji. A true bucket list
item ticked off. The difficulties of the hike aside, to be able to do it
outside of the climbing season and in the wet season was very good indeed. I
had been so lucky with the weather. The two days I was here it was bright sunshine,
the rain would return the next day.
 |
| Lave boulder |
 |
| Multi-coloured rocks |
 |
| The crater |
 |
| Big icicles |
We had lunch admiring the view before doing the
loop around the crater. The different colours of the volcanic rocks looked beautiful.
I took a couple of them as souvenirs.
 |
| Me and Alex at the top |
 |
| Some random Japanese man |
Half way around the crater there’s a marker
that denotes the official top of Mt Fuji. We met some very friendly Japanese
people who treated us to some Sake and wanted to be in pictures with us. They
were English wasn't great and they kept laughing randomly.
 |
| All the way back down |
There was nothing left to do but go back down.
We got half way down then realised we would need to hurry in order to make the
last bus. We started running which was actually slightly easier on the knees.
We got down in plenty of time. We attempted to hitch down again to
save some Yen but ended up getting the bus.
The receptionist that had recommended
hitchhiking to us was very pleased to hear that we had made it to the top. I
had a curry and a beer with Alex before going to bed. I was knackered.
 |
| The rain returns |
The next day the rain returned and the view of
the mountain was obscured again. I travelled further inland to a small village
called Azumino near Matsumoto. There was only the one hostel here and I seemed
to be the only one in it. I choose it for location to the train that would take
me to one of the best spots in the Japanese Alps. The man who owned the hostel
worked out a whole timetable for me with a few different options for getting to
and from where I wanted to go. He was very helpful. It felt more like a house
than a hostel and I was his guest. I cooked my own food but he ate with me.
Just me and him and the dinner table. It was a little awkward.
 |
| Sunny in the Alps! |
