Hotel Sun Port Shizuoka

... which consisted of a variety of small soups, fish, sushi and rice dishes all with unique tastes, textures and colours, a great place to experience some traditional eats and relaxation.

Only there for a short time but it was definitely one of the highlights of the trip and a key souvenir spot! I've never seen so many cartoon fuji-chan souvenirs! Endless!

... and as you get to each station the people working in the hut, brands/burns a stamp on your stick for a fee. It looks cool and is a great souvenir, but it's a freakin stick, which I would never use again. Instead, I bought I collapsible hiking stick to help me climb, which I thought was unnecessary but was highly recommended. I was very thankful I bought one in the end.

By 6pm it was dark, and we had to put on headlights. The first part of the climb was easy and flat. By the ...

... interesting climb until things would get jammed up. Anytime anyone ahead of us stopped, we would be at a stand still for an indeterminate amount of time. This was aggravated by the fact that the tour groups would routinely stop, and there was very little chance for getting around them so it was an intermittently VERY slow climb. After the rather technical portion, the trail opened up into wide, scree heavy switchbacks around maybe 3200m. The same time as the trail ...

... por sorpresa, asi que tuvimos que ir al 7-Eleven a comprar una de sus comidas preparadas y que nos las calentaran antes de volver al hostal. Son muy convenientes los 7-eleven. Estan por todas partes y ademas son muy economicos. Yo me comi una hamburguesa con pasta, arroz y salsa de tomate. Nada japones.

El tema de la comida ha sido un poco "hit and miss", o sea, a veces encontramos un sitio donde la comida esta bien de precio y tienen un ...

... no tenian color. Eran muy lentos y las figuras eran un poco simplonas. Al final pusieron algo de musica (no se si seria el himno de Japon), al ritmo de los fuegos, y la cosa mejoro, pero se podian haber ahorrado 20 minutos de la primera parte.

Lo mejor fue ver a las japonesas vestidas con el kimono para la ocasion. Algunos hombres tambien se habian vestido de kimono (estilo samurai). Todos llevaban los tipicos zuecos japoneses con calcetines y hacian clock-clock al andar.

... dense fog lay all around the 5th station and it blurred the sight. We still had no hesitation and no fear of what is going to be happening to us in the next 18 hours. When I read some reviews about climbing Mt. Fuji, I have noticed that many people cited the famous Japanese quote : "Your are wise to climb Fuji once and a fool to climb it twice." ... Now I know why they keep mentioning it, but for me it was rather “ ...

... we are, at his place. I dropped off my bags, and he's making us dinner, which is really nice. Tomorrow morning we're off to Tokyo. Apparently he has a traveler meeting there, so I'll ride up there with him, and then afterwards I'll meet up with Masa, my brother's friend, who is being super nice and letting me stay with him for my last nights before going back to Peru. Word.

... their horn for any reason.) But, of course, this does not mean it is perfect. Because the community takes precendence here, in turn, the individual loses much of his/her ability to really shine. As a result, people are often afraid to express who they are. In class, students are afraid to raise their hands and, when they do, it is most surely NOT to express an opinion by any means. The students do not question anything teachers tell them. They do not develop those ...

... you can guess what the counterperson said to me... "It's hot today, isn't it?" It was then I realized that all these people were not just remarking about the weather to me, but were, in fact, addressing the fact that the humidity in the air had somehow attached itself to my skin and manifested itself in the form of my sweat. It was then I understood that, "My it's hot today, isn't it?" was really the polite Japanese way of saying, "Damn you are one sweaty white girl!!!"

... I miss the crunch of the pickles already. Then it STILL wasnt time to eat, we had a 2 chants to do.. One was I think we r not worthy of this food - I cant remember exactly and then we had to hold our rice bowls in the air and chant. Then we had to shovel the food into our mouths as QUICKLY as possible b4 sensei put down his chopsticks.. Then the server would call seconds and we would have to wait until everyone had been ...