Why Japan in the Dead of Summer?

The main motivation I am heading to Tokyo in the dead of summer is to get an opportunity to climb Mt. Fuji to the top. The concept is something that can be done easiest really only in July and August as the majority of the summit will not be cloaked in snow. I will admit it wasn't something I had thought of on my first trip to Japan, but when a coworker's son visited a year later it was something he did and it sounded like a spectacular idea that I knew I was going to have to follow as well. Of course trip number two was dedicated to the cherry blossom season and I am very happy I did that. It was an awesome experience and it was right to do that before the summer trip.

Climbing Mt. Fuji is considered a pilgrimage by many Japanese people but they say that around 30% of the people who do it are foreigners. It is rated at a moderately easy 5-7 hour hike to the top. The distance traveled is less than 4 miles if starting from the 5th station (you may recall we visited that in Japan trip 1). It is however a gain of around a mile of altitude. In truth it should be easier than Dead Woman's Pass on the Inca Trail however I am not going to take it lightly. A major difference is that I won't be at altitude before I start so racing through it could provide altitude sickness. Many folks start very late in the evening and hike through the dark to arrive for the sunrise. I think I will probably start earlier and find someplace to rest for a while, maybe even rent space in one of the huts.  Not sure on that yet. Either way I will see sunrise then hike back down. They use a different route which is supposed to take 2-3 hours and does not have any water stops or the like.

Typically I am bad about hiking and bringing proper supplies. I will try to be good on this one as I am traveling and doing this alone (even though there will be hundreds or thousands of other folks doing it).  

For more information on climbing Mt. Fuji you can look at this page.  It has good information.

Sapporo Hotel Booked

I have booked my stay in Sapporo at the Hotel Sunroute Sapporo through Hotels.com.  I am going on a few reviews and the fact that the place is non-smoking. Always a plus to me.  It also appears to be close to the JR station. Though I am flying in I intend to use the rail system to get out of Sapporo for a couple side trips in Hokkaido which is the northern island of Japan.

I figure as with all my other choices for hotels even if the place is not great I am only there to sleep and shower.  It does seem central to a lot of the metro Sapporo attractions too which is nice.

Japan 2012

I realize the posts about the Iceland trip haven't even gotten stale yet but I have booked flights to Japan for this summer. I will be leaving July 21 and returning August 8. In the time I am there I will be spending the bookends of the trip staying in Tokyo in the Villa Fontaine Hamamatsucho and spending a week in Sapporo.  As of yet I have not booked a hotel in Sapporo as I wanted to check with Marina if she had any suggestions before I made any decisions. The Villa Fontaine was basically what I wanted where I wanted so I didn't feel a need to change.

Sapporo is on Hokkaido which is the northern island of Japan. I am going to take Japan Airlines back and forth. The trip by rail would be about 10+ hours and by plane is only an hour and a half. Even with airport hassles it makes sense.  I purchased the domestic Japan flights through the oneworld Yokoso Japan Fare. Since I booked my flight to Japan via American Airlines this trip I was entitled to this special deal. For the record the fares can be purchased here.  It is a few pages jumps to find this otherwise.  As with the previous Japan trips, I am finding a lot of the helpful stuff like that through Japan Guide.

I am sure I will again purchase a JR pass to get around the country as it is valid everywhere and JR is helpful for getting around Tokyo.  That will be further down the road of course as they want it purchased within 3 months of arrival.

More to come as it happens.  Probably some Iceland stuff soon too.

Iceland Planning Notes

The collective is getting together to figure out what we are going to do while we are there in the near future but we already have our lodging booked by Dee.  We are staying at an apartment rather than hotels. I have to admit it looks quite nice.

Iceland will be a lot about outdoors stuff. I'd love to rent a Rover and do some off-roading but it also states that prior to summer that can be extra dangerous beyond the norm. I am also fairly certain no one else going along is interested in it which puts a damper on the idea.  I will post up what we are pre-planning when it is hashed out. I suspect we'll still have some open slots for random stuff to do.

Spain Slideshow - Sorry

It occurs to me that I never built a slideshow of my Spain trip. Due to being first very busy then  very forgetful it was an oversight. I will rectify the situation soon.

Iceland in Late May

After a couple months of having nothing at all planned (which was extremely painful to me) I can now announce that I am heading to Iceland for the time frame of Memorial Day week.  This trip is being motivated by our friend Dee so I might go a little light on the planning details. For the time being I will state that we have purchased our airline tickets already and are going to be there for around 5 days. It appears that there will be at least 5 of us. Of course we are flying Iceland Air as it is a direct flight and fairly cheap. I have only passed through on my various trips to Scandinavia and have never strayed from the airport (fortunately my layovers there have been short) so I think it will be a fun trip with a lot of outdoorsy activities and some viking heritage hopefully. More details as they are hashed out by the group.