At the Hut (Mount Fuji II)

By 7.30pm, we reached our Mountain Hut (we booked 2 beds in advance) at the 7th Station, about 3,200m above sea-level. These huts are very very basic; there is usually a main/lobby area that serves as a dining hall, a kitchen somewhere behind, and the sleeping area is a communal i.e. 2 levels of wooden bed-racks that span each wall. In our hut, each person had a 2-feet wide sleeping space!

The toilet was outside the main hut, and there was no basin or shower facility. Water supply is regulated, so the only free-flowing water we has was from a special water tank, with a special tap that dispenses an incredibly small amount of water per second. So, all very very basic.

Dinner was served (curry, rice, salad, tea) and then we were given our breakfast to keep with us - two packets of something similar to Lor-mai-fun, in an army-style plastic pack (so you just tear it open and squeeze it into your mouth), plus two small sausages and a piece of Japanese omelet.


By 8pm, we were lying in our upper-deck 'wooden rack bed' (it had a thin mattress, and sleeping bags were provided) trying to sleep, which was difficult because:

(1) there were at least 40 other people in the bunk, some snoring, some burping, farting etc... very strange environment;
(2) the thin air - throughout the night I could hear people using their oxygen inhaler (the oxygen pump was Loud!)
(3) it was only 8pm.

The plan was to wake up 4.5 hours later at 12.30am and continue the climb to the summit to witness the sun rise at 4.30am. I could only sleep for about 1-2 hours and gave up trying. By 11.45pm, we decided to continue the climb. We got up, prepared ourselves, packed, and stepped out of the hut.

We were shocked to see that there was already a 'human traffic jam' from our hut all the way to as far up as we could see towards the summit. It was a trail of lights, ranging from normal hand-held torches to head-strapped lights, to flashing multi-colored batons. Some climbers choose not to stay the night, and start the climb in the early evening instead, climbing overnight non-stop.