fujiyoshida

next goal: mount fuji. i awoke to some seniors doing morning gymnastics in front of my tent in the park, packed up, and started walking to the next town to catch the only bus that could take me back to the highway. after an hour, i arrived and found the bus stop after some struggle (i didn't buy a sim card in japan, so all i usually had were presaved maps and a couple of screenshots).

another half hour of walking later, i made it to the rest stop, but it was particularly well fenced off, so i had to fight through some fauna until finally found a way in. i freshened up in the bathroom, bought some food and got to work. after a while, a guy picked me up, but he was pretty bizarre. he spoke good english because he used to play in an orchestra in chicago, but not even five minutes after i got in, he started going on about his ex girlfriend that had dumped him half a year back. fair enough, i get that sometimes people just pick me up because they need somebody to open up to, but this guy did not stop rambling and had her songs (she was a singer) running the entire time while chainsmoking. most of all, i remember i couldn't even feel any warmth coming from his fingers when we shook hands at the end. poor guy really.

while walking around looking for something to make a sign out of (i didn't need to go east any further), i found a service entrance behind the rest stop filled floor to ceiling with cardboard. heaven is a place in japan. i asked the guy working there if i could take one, and he turned out to be a real cardboard connoisseur. now equipped with the best hitchhiking sign i ever had, i went to work.

this time took a bit longer, and after a while i was kicked off by one of the parking aids because he was concerned about me standing too close to the passing cars. found another spot and finally got a ride with a young couple that was going the right way. i had planned to go to kofu, where a cheap guesthouse would've been my base for a trip to the second and third highest mountains in japan, followed by fuji, the highest one. but since these guys were going to fujiyoshida, the town right at the foot of fuji, i scrapped those plans and just came with them.

after being dropped off just at sunset, i used the rest of the day to do some research with the station wifi until they kicked me out. i found a tiny weather window in the morning hours of the third day to come, so i would have to leave right the next morning. there were a thousand factors and scenarios to consider, but at the end of the day, i had three days worth of calorie dense food, a new aa-battery powered powerbank, half my stuff locked away in the train station lockers, a head full of maps and plans, and a tent next to the trailhead.Læs mere