Mount Fuji

Kim and I visited Mount Fuji - you know the snowcapped mountain that is iconic of Japan.

We took a couple trains there, booked a couple nights in a hostel (we couldnt get a private room so we shared a room with a guy from slovakia and a girl one night, and the slovakian and a guy that came in for only 10 minutes the second night).

I don't know why climbing mountains is so tempting. Its actually quite painful - especially for me - my knees get super sore on the way down. When I climbed Mt Sinai a couple years ago I twisted my ankle so was hobbling around for a week. Not to smart for a traveller as hobbling is both more difficult and sort of embarrassing.

But can you not climb the mountain?

What I mean is --- If you are near a mountain and all the other travellers are doing it, don't you actually >have< to climb the mountain? Like if you get sore knees, really you should not come within 10 miles of a mountain or you will be compelled to climb it... Can you go to the base of Mt Fuji and not suffer for it?

So anyway, we did climb the mountain and we got terribly sunburnt. I took a picture of Kim's sunburn (its on her treemo site). Since that picture our burns have turned into blistered burns (from the sweat trying to escape through burnt skin and is starting to peel). Plus my left knee was sore for two days.

But at least I didn't twist an ankle.