So folks this is the last blog from our trip to Japan. As you will see, if you are one of the parents, the boys have left each of you a little message and I have left a little reminder about the pick up in Belfast, please be at the airport for 8:30pm on Friday 13th July (Tomorrow ).
As I say in my video the boys have been an absolute pleasure to be with, well once I got them in shape lol. Unfortunately, I won’t be able to see you at the airport as I’m leaving the group at London Heathrow... hopefully I will have a cup of tea in my hand as the boys are landing in The City airport.
It is my absolute pleasure to inform everyone that all members of our group (16 in total) have last night and this morning successfully reached the summit of Japan’s highest peak Mt Fuji (3776 metres). The boys did really well walking to the Mountain hut yesterday at a height of 3100m and then spending a kind of sleepless rest until it was time to set off for the summit bid. This was 12 midnight and motivation was pretty low alround but as I’d been telling the boys, it’s all a big head game... plod plod step step. The simmit slowly got closer until we were there!!! An amazing feeling and I’m not going to mention his name but one boy shed a little tear... you’ll have to ask if it was yours.
The return to 5th station and descent off the hill went pretty much uneventfully, but the 1.5 km gradual hill right at the very end was an absolute soul destroyer.
We are all now back in Tokyo ensconced in our hostel for the very last night in this fantastic city and country!
What a life changing trip this has been for the boys...
.We took it ealsy today with a leisurely start and a little visit to SensÅ-ji temple for another opportunity to stock up on souvenirs and presents.
Tomorrow we start the trek up Mt Fuji with an early (4AM ) start. The plan is to get an early night tonight so we are well rested for the climb. The boys are all packed and seem excited for what some are saying will be the highlight of our trip. It will take us around two hours to get to our starting point on the mountain before setting off for our nights accommodation at Station 8. We will then leave the hut in the dark to hopefully summit with the sunrise.
We will take lots of photos so you can all enjoy the experience too.
We have moved on from our Pods to another hostel In Tokyo, this time in a district called Akihabara. This area is famous for the Manga district and a little bit of other weird stuff but this variety is rapidly becoming what we now know Tokyo to be. Tonight we went to the busiest and possibly most famous road crossing in the world, Shibuya Crossing.
The boys had fun as did the staff watching the madness from the ‘safety’ of our perch high above The Crossing in Starbucks!
Today was the last of our ‘training’ treks and the boys did us all proud.
The route up can be made easy with a bus to the cable car and then a cable car to the top...that’s right that would be no fun! We walked all the way from the train station to the top which took around two and half hours. The trail proper starts near to the cable car station and immediately goes upwards on a steep gradient. The gradient only eased up once or twice for the boys to take on water and some essential calories to fuel them all the way. The whole day today was about becoming mentally strong...the route up Mt Fuji will require a positive attitude as well as some resilience.
After passing the top station of the cable car the route follows a series of steps to the shrine at the top. The boys made it safely to the shrine and enjoyed a bite to eat while having a well earned rest.
We decided as a group that not a great deal could be gained from a march back down the mountain and some members of the group were very pleased when we bought tickets to descend via the cable car...something about toenails or something...
We leave our Pods tomorrow to go to another hostel in Tokyo...we have another day of ‘rest’ and then it’s Mt Fuji!!!! The boys are ready!n
Mt Takao involved a 599 hike through a typical Japanese Mountain forest full of international fauna and flora. It was a good test in the humidity for the boys fitness. However, the clouds were low and so there wasn’t much of a view from the top and, unfortunately, The flying squirrels, for which the mountain is known, disappointing didn’t make an appearance.
We decided to follow a different trail down from the top which proved to be a challenging steep descent and resulted in complaints from the boys about sore toes Hahahah
