Mt. Fuji Adventure and Reflection!

Never did I imagine that I would climb Mt. Fuji. I'm satisfied in looking at it from our office window (it is visible during clear days) and looking at the post cards.

However when the universe conspire about me having a lot free time now and c'mon-let's-hike-mtfuji-next-month-while-drinking-Corona-beer invitation, I found myself preparing to hike Japan's highest mountain!

At first I need shoes! Takbo agad sa mont.bell

The shoe fitting session

Little did I know that my left and right foot are not the same size. Incredible!!!

The male staff also teach me on how to properly tie the know of my shoe. And I was like "there's a special knot for hiking pa??"

Bought all my hiking gear from mont.bell. They should give me discounts on my next purchase!! I have to admit mont.bell is much cheaper than TNF and they have the complete accessories for hiking. One-stop-shop talaga!

Come Friday (yes I took a day off for this trip hahaha), we we're at Station 5 of Mt. Fuji. Here I'm still happy and full of energy =D

The weather is not cooperating during our hike. It was cloudy and with little rain. The temperature hovers around 10-15 deg.C. FREEZINGGGG!!!

I only have few pictures of the mountain because it was constantly raining and I don't have a camera (I used iPhone for taking these pics).

Here is one stop over location wherein people get some snacks and hot coffee/chocolate and eat. The price is 3x more. Hahaha! 

Well of course it's hard to bring all those stuff in the mountain. 

It took us 6 hours to trek from 5th station up to 8th station (our place of stay for the night) and boy, it was a very challenging hike! It's hard to catch your breath when the air is very thin. Thank God for the air-in-can hahaha!

Happy Hiker

There are 5 trails in climbing Mt. Fuji. My companion choose the easy route. No need to tired ourselves hahaha. We are not hard core hikers =P

This trip is a good diversion from my so-called life. Since work is becoming a burden rather than a job and my personal life is on a roller coaster emotions, this hike allows me to stop and smell the flowers....errr trees.

We may choose different paths in our life, but one thing is for sure, God is always there to light our path =D.

#quotable quotes

And at the end of the day, being single is not sad. Ang Happy kaya!

***********
Hi Poley here! Tama na kadramahan ni caddie hahaha.

Since dad did not brought me to Mt. Fuji I just help myself with the Mt.Fuji Melon cake that he brought home.

Di Sha masarap!

He also brought home this Mt. Fuji mineral water. Funny thing is its like a commemorative mineral water according to the guide but Daddie drank it after it was given tot him. Hahahaha!

#PG (patay gutom)

And since Daddie spent a LOT of money on hiking gears, he will take this hiking activity seriously daw.

Me-to-Daddie: Goodluck =P

-Poley the Hiker-

Trailblazing Temples

We only spent 2 days at Siem Reap (and almost 8 hours at PP), hence our schedule is very tight. First day was spent at Banteay Srei and the neighboring temples while second day was spent at Angkor Wat and the remaining temples.

We have to get up as early as 5AM just to get the sunrise photo-op of Angkor Wat (i'll have separate blog about Angkor Wat, so much to talk about that place haha) and after that we proceed to the other temples.

We're on our way to Bayon temples!

Traditional Khmer structure which serves as side decors are these huge statues that's pulling a snake body. It's a common sight in Khmer architecture but unfortunately for this one the body is already gone.

Note: hindi po babaing ahas yung nasa picture =P

Tuk-tuk drivers in Siem Reap are so nice! When we see an photo opportunity we always asked our driver to stop and wait for us. Hahaha.

After almost an hour, we finally made it at the Bayon temples. I'm very excited about this place because  of the intriguing faces etched on the spiral cones/tower of the temples. Parang yung mga Rapa Nui statues lang ng Easter island.

See the faces?!?

Compare to Banteay Srei and Angkor Wat, this temples are more rustic and ancient. Vegetation are abundant in Bayon and i believe it's hard to roam around the temple during rainy season because it will be slippery.

The sculpture are just amazing!!

On the side of the temple are layers of blocks which i think came from the temple. It looks like the temple was re-created from the ruins and it's like a giant jigsaw puzzle of some sort.

Neat!

Parang lego puzzle lang ang peg!

Any volunteer??!

Blocked Beauty!

The famous faces can be seen up close since every one can climb up the second floor of the temple. One tourist was so overwhelmed with the structure he actually climbed the wall. Crazy!!!

(he was escorted out of the temple by the way after he climbed =P )

Some hallways of the temple are already re-created/ revised from the original form but still the effect is surreal padin! 

Gilbert and the cat

Tropa at the hallway

Tropa at the Veranda of the temple 

Same as Angkor Wat, a lot of wall carved statues of Khmer people/ gods are inscribe here in Bayon. It' so awesome that this carvings are still intact in the walls after all these times. 

Time tested talaga! Galing!!

Most of the buildings though are in crumble state na, so it's no entrance for visitors. But the carvings and sculptures are so alluring kaya i can't help it and i just need to see it kahit sandali lang #waggayahin #boybawal.

Napagod sa kakaikot =P

There were a lot of people in Bayon hence the hassle in going up and down the stairs (sometimes you have to wait for a minute before ascending the stairs) and after an hour we proceed to the next temple a few meters away from Bayon.

To the unknown temple!

I forgot the name of the temple but it is near Bayon and the Monkey temple. Also it is one of the sacred temples in Angkor Wat area, meaning no sleeveless for girls daw. Olive, our researcher whenever we travel (i have to admit olive and rose are sooo O.C. when it comes to travels!) brought with her a t-shirt and she wore it before entering the temple.

There's a guard in the entrance that checked if the tourist are properly dressed or not. Better be prepared and do your research first =P.

The "properly dressed" tourist =)

Unlike the other temples where you can use the stone stairs, here they put wooden ladder to ascend to the top. According to the information on the entrance the priest do their offering to their Gods on this temple and they ascend to the top bringing with them incense and other offerings.

Sa sobrang liit ng hagdang bato ang hirap sigurado umakyat sa taas! (Or baka they small feet kaya nakaka-akyat sila hehe)

Some columns on the top are replica or combined from the old stones nalang. No original columns remains.

Yeah I make it to the top =P

The monkey temple (?) was right beside the "i-forgot-the-name" temple, though it is only small and only one entrance and exit. Surrounded by waters I was worried that maybe there are mosquitos around  LoL!

In this area also you can buy the BEST silk shawl! Don't forget to buy one! I'm sure your wife, girlfriend, mother (or any girl love ones) would surely appreciate it.

Mysterious Temple with Moat

We finished visiting these temples before lunch time. Exhausted and thirsty we headed up to get our lunch. I must admit the restaurant around the area are a bit pricey, I suggest to bring snacks while on a trip so as not to be very hungry while eating lunch or dinner (and so as not to spend more money as well) =D.

More temples and wackiness on next post. 

China Travel Diary 5: The Great Hike on the Great Wall!

Call time was 6:00AM, too early for this tourist (naks!) to get his body out of bed.But since we got a tour package for The Great Wall trip, we have no choice but to follow it.

Mutianyu is located 90 kilometers north of Beijing. We decided to visit rather than Badaling wall because it's not that crowded unlike Badaling.

See? no people!! =D

There are 24 stations in Mutianyu, we start from Station 6 then walked all the way to Station 17. We didn't finished till Station 24 (but Olive does want to finish till the end though) because me and rose are exhausted. From station 17 we returned back to station 6 and walked to station 1.

At first we had great time posing here and there. See those happy faces? naks!But after 30 minutes of going up and down (and more ups) we we're exhausted!

What makes it hard to walk in Great Wall is that some of the steps are above average in size. Mega-effort talaga ang pag-akyat at baba sa mga hagdan =(.

Malalaki ba paa ng mga Intsik kaya ganito kataas ang steps ng hagdan nila?

Despite the hardship of travesing the wall, still the sight is awesome!

Ni hao ma!

Along the way, we've met a man with a donkey for hire. I just wonder how the hell can the donkey walk on narrow and high steps of the wall??!! Diko na tinanong si manong, baka sipain ako ng donkey nia if i did ask. Jejejeje










At the back of the wall (on the side of china) there are steps going down the hills. These are located on every station quarters of the wall. Maybe it is use to deliver the goods or girls or anything to the soldiers =P.

The secret passageway

Lahat ata ng stations nagpapicture kami, unfortunately my solo pictures are saved on Olive's camera and I can't retrieve it now coz she's in Japan already!! Waaaa!

Olive where's my picture???!!!!!!

It was drizzling and foggy (or smog) when we went to the Great Wall. Though it was cloudy i got a sunburn from our trip to the wall =(. The smog lifted up at around noontime, just in time before we descend from the wall =D.









On the 4th station we noticed this wooden structure erected on the wall. The marker said that this is where the general used to live. So while the soldiers live on a stone station (which is actually cramped and small) the generals live on a cool and breezy quarters. =P




















Along the way, we've seen different type of people wearing extraordinaire clothes. The hot, young and handsome European men opt not to wear any shirt, topless kung topless! No wonder hindi makapagconcentrate sa paglalakad yung dalawang kasama ko!



But This one really got our attention! Yan ang ultimate Summer outfit!

"Best in Summer attire"

At the end of Station 1, there's a marker instructing that no person should go beyond this point. It is an old part of the wall that was not rehabilitated and its dangerous to go beyond this area. But since matigas ang ulo namin ni olive we ventured far beyond the marker, only just to see trees and shrubs where the walkway of the wall used to be. =(.

Dead End na!

Funny thing happened here. Since it was the 1st station and I was exhausted climbing up the stairs I sit on top of the stairs above the foreigners you see in the picture below:

Stairway to heaven ba ito?

Maybe due to exhaustion or nawindang lang talaga ako sa taas ng inakyat kong stairs, when i grab my 2 liters (or was it 1.5 liters) of gatorade it slip from my fingers and natapon sa 4 na foreigners sa harap ko =D.

Thank God they we're Europeans and kind as well coz hindi sila nagalit. The Ginger haired girl even laugh and she said "It was ok".

Here's Olive re-enacting the gatorade splash moment (minus the gatorade nga lang). I think i've never been this exhausted in my entire life!

We've seen some canons line up on the wall, unfortunately it is cast already to the cement, para hindi siguro manenok ng mga magnanakaw =P.

Amd this is the highest steps that i've seen inmy entire life! Napaisip talaga ako kung ang mga sinaunang Chinese ba eh mga long legged?








Olive, the daredevil, walked on the side of the stairs na ang taas-taas! See the picture here:

Sige na, ikaw na ang matapang! =P

Some walkways also are very difficult to walked on coz sira-sira na sha. Thank god i was wearing my trekking shoes kaya roads like this is an easy breeze for me (goodluck nalang sa mga naka heels!)



I think the experience at the Great Wall is something that I will never forget. One, it tested our patience with each other (we are all cranky with the heat, fatigue, thirst and what not). Second we've value the true meaning of friendship and the motto "no one will be left behind" (when rose decided not to proceed anymore to station 18) and most importantly how travelling is fun and enjoyable when you're with your makukulit na barkada.




The only low down of this trip was when knee joint give up to those repeated ups and downs. Until now I still feel the pain in my joints (but im too lazy to go to the doctor parin!)


But all in all, it was all worth it. I love the palce, the history, the uniqueness of the architecture and more importantly a appreciate how the chinese people turn their God-giving talent to prepare a extraordinaire masterpiece like this.



Definitely worth the visit!








so much more to come! abangan! =D