Conquering Fujisan

With Guest Writer Emily Crow Whitley

The day before, we debated and researched and eventually settled on renting a car in Kyoto and driving to the 5th stage of the mountain to start the climb. The alternative was to bullet train it to Tokyo, drop our bags off at the hotel and rent a car from Tokyo there.

We settled on the car because all of the busses from Tokyo to the mountain were booked. So at the last possible moment, Erin worked with the concierge to call around – the only place with an available car that was open was Toyota, so we rented the largest vehicle they had.

To save costs, we booked it for only 24 hours, which meant that we had to wait until 2PM to pick it up. As noted, after checking out slyly from the hotel, we went to lunch at a wonderful Thai restaurant and walked around the corner to pick up the van. We piled in, pulled up to the Hyatt and quickly and efficiently packed all of our bags in the 8-seater and hit the road.

Roads wound through mountains – this was the IC, a massive toll road that spans Japan with stops along the way. This “highway oasis” is aptly named as their bathrooms were among the best we have ever encountered, even in America! The boy’s bathroom was made complete with a zen garden and the women’s with a beautiful lounging area with leather couches. Japan keeps their priorities straight! USA take note, please, and upgrade the gas station bathrooms to this level…or else.

Also along the route, we continued on mom/Marilyn’s tradition of the tunnel tally. We traveled through 17 tunnels in a span of only 6 hours on the road! Zachary made sure to notate in our tunnel tally notebook that one tunnel was “really long” and one was “extra cool.” He has obviously been studying his thesaurus this trip.

We arrived in Fuji city and picked up Ryo (or just ‘Joe’) at the train station. Our first stop was food – here I changed and prepared my gear while the others ate. Next, we found a convenience store to get water and a few last snacks. Then an hour drive up winding roads to Stage 5 where we would begin our hike.

Believe it or not, under Erin’s amazing trip planning, we began our hike at 11:30 at night.

Ryo helped us to pick the best route so that we could summit in time for sunrise. This trail ended up being the shortest, but steepest. Thanks to Erin for recommending the night hike because during the day Fuji is crowded with lines of thousands making the trek to the summit.

So we parked and we started hiking.

First up the road a bit and through the parking lot, then to the framed lavarockbed pathways. We would need to make it through 6 stages (Stage 6, Stage 7 Old, Stage 7 New, Stage 8, Stage 9, Stage 9.5) before reaching the peak. And to do so before sunrise, we would need to hike Fuji in 6 hours.

Photos may be the best way to see our progress (so check out Zach’s Flickr), but to describe it in a sentence: we were a bright-shirted & reflector strap-laden group of 8 passing and being passed by other headlamp-wearing night hikers, coasting up the tallest point in Japan with a minimal number of water, toilet and rest breaks.

As is the nature of human beings, we each had our ups and downs during this adventure, with each of us taking the lead at points, pushing through pain at times and fighting through the thin air.

At each stage, we would take extended breaks.

By sunrise, we were near to the stop – stage 9.5. Just half an hour later, we made it to the top and let out a sigh of relief as we enjoyed the view, wrote postcards and made the most of every photo opportunity – it was 6.5 hours earlier that we left the van.

If reaching the peak of Fuji felt like an accomplishment, finding the car upon our return was more of a relief. The walk down was a grueling slide along volcanic rocks – a measure of effort with each step and a twist of the ankle with each landing.

I believe in all, it took us 3.5 hours to make it back to our van, but in the daylight and sharing the sketchy paths with thousands of trekkers heading up, it seemed like much longer.

With a grueling climb down came injury. The terrain was steep, sandy and hard to stay balanced on. Haynes strained his knee, Loryn pulled a muscle in her groin and Zach fell on his butt more times than we could count. Don’t worry! We all made it okay and after some good rest, ice and stretching we were good as new and ready to take on Tokyo!

Kyoto has more temples

Day 6 in Kyoto (Day 3 for Zach and Emily, Day 8, I think, for Dean and Loryn) was our last opportunity to see the remaining temples.

To accomplish this, we woke early. The best part of exiting early is that we stumbled upon free coffee outside of the hotel restaurant (compared to the $8 Zach paid the day before while he was taking his accounting tests).

We got on the bus to Kinkakuji (gold temple) and made the long journey to the exact other quadrant of town. There, we stared with other visitors at the picturesque gold temple, with each level built with a unique design and purpose in mind.

[Photo of Kinkakuji]

From Kinkakuji, we walked to catch another bus and along the way ran into a sushi conveyor belt restaurant - the cheapest and most fun meal we had while in Japan. At least most fun based on the fact that the sushi and other items passed by you on a conveyor belt and you ordered by the dish and when your dish arrived the monitor would sound a signal.

This day we would continue our bus travels by stopping off at the Kijo castle (which was closed) and catching another bus to another temple up in the hills. This next temple was a Buddhist temple and when we arrived, the attending monks were chanting - we stayed here for a bit to cool off.

Walking down the hill, through the Gion district, we searched next for the Razorback (technically, "wild boar") temple. We found it near the parking lot of another more major temple and took plenty of photos to send into the Arkansas Alumni Association.

[Photo at Razorback temple]

To cap off our day of temple hopping, we made our way to the place of a thousand Torii gates - a location our mother had called us about earlier that day. To get here, we took one bus, walked a bridge, walked some alleys, caught another bus and then crossed the rail tracks. But, we made it, and walked the Torii gates, stacked one after another like trees in a forest - but bright bright orangish red.

[Photo of Torii gates]

After exhausting ourselves, we bussed it back to the hotel for showers. There we made final plans for renting our car to Mt. Fuji (next blog post) and split up to head to the "best tempura restaurant in Japan." Turns out the "best" also meant the "most extraordinarily expensive" and so the first half of our group that arrived there first suffered through an awkward "no thank you" and existed to wave the rest of us down near the entrance. So instead of tempura, we settled on McDonald's.

And after a good chicken burger, we made our way to the puricula booths for Dean and Loryn's first opportunity to create genius. With Haynes modeling for his next art installation and Dean and Loryn finding the way to best express awkward affection, I would consider our stop at Japan's best activity a success. And even more so because Tristan found us with two other Razorbacks in tow. He introduced us to two Japanese friends who graduated from the University of Arkansas - a great Razorback reunion, and yes, we did tell them about the Razorback temple.

[Photo from puricula]

And so the night came to an end after catching up on activities from the Hill.

Day 7, our final day in Kyoto, was an opportunity to start late, pack and make our way to pick up the car. Our only activities of the day were: Haynes and I skipping fare on the bus, finding a great Thai restaurant and packing the gear into the car.

Now we are off, to conquer Fujisan with our good friend Ryo. To find the sun on Japan's iconic highest peak.

Kyoto has temples

Day 4 in Kyoto sandwiched our trip to Nara. With the entire group intact now - all 7 Arkansans - we could now start the true week of adventure in Japan.

On day 5, we slept in. Today we would visit the temples that make Kyoto such a popular and beautiful place to see. But first, we had to eat soba (buckwheat) noodles at a 600-year old restaurant.

With our bus day pass, we caught a line that took us on the south end of the Imperial Palace green area. Off the bus, we walked the alley to the restaurant. There we ran into a Japanese family (mother and two daughters) who live in New York with their mother/grandmother. We sat next to them during lunch.

[PHOTO FROM LUNCH]

A wonderful lunch and great introduction to traditional Japanese food for our new arrivals. Though I sweat through lunch and had trouble sitting knees-crossed, it was definitely one of my favorite meals from our time in Japan. So after lunch, the grandmother of our new found friends listed several points of interest and stops for food for Haynes. She had been studying English with a focus on tourism with an English-speaking ex-pat who wrote a book on visiting Kyoto - with her knowledge, she proved to be a great guide.

Next we made our way to Ginkakuji (silver temple) – a temple meant to be covered in silver (until the owner ran out of funds) and surrounded by a beautiful example of Japanese gardens, a landscape filled with moss covered forest beds and designer rock beds meticulously kept like rows and rows of ant hills.

[PHOTO OF FOREST]

There we were Wisconsined – a new term we created after a kid from Wisconsin took a group photo of us but failed to capture the temple in the background. Because of this experience we started carrying around a green screen to snap group photos – later Haynes will fill in the background with another superimposed shot we took with the group removed. No, not really, but I think I just created a new product to market to travelers.

From the temple, with several stops for sweet snacks, we walked the Philosopher’s trail and passed a shop where I bought chopsticks and ran into a bicycle man who sold Zach a painted rock and gave us each a piece of candy. At the end of the path, we reached a beautiful temple next to the “water bridge” (or viaduct) – a Roman style, brick made piece of architecture where we posed for our first set of band photos.

[BAND PHOTO]

From there, we caught a bus back to the hotel to freshen up and then headed out back near Kyoto City Hall (near to where we ate lunch) to eat yakitori (Japanese kebabs). My favorite = the chicken heart. We also drank hot and cold sake. From here, we left to meet up with Tristan for karaoke. Unfortunately, Erin's phone died and so we didn't have the exact location. We split the group into search parties and walked up and down the arcade (covered shopping) areas, but could not find him. With what seemed at the time just a bit of energy left, we found the closest karaoke location and squeezed into the room for an hour, bringing in our own beer. Here, I will end for the night. As you can imagine, loud Americans, even louder competing Riley's, and a stereotypical (and maybe offensive) playlist of songs - from Styx' "Mr. Roboto" to Springsteen's "Born in the U.S.A."

Day trip to Nara: Land of deer

With a new addition to the Arkansas group, we planned to meet Tristan the next day for an adventure to Nara.

The next morning, we awoke, organized, booked most of the rest of the trip through Southeast Asia, and transported our luggage to the Hilton where we would be staying for the rest of our time in Kyoto.

A bit after noon, we met Tristan at Kyoto Station, bought tickets to Nara, stocked up on food and beer and hopped the train. Against all custom, we ate on the train and drank some beers in plastic bags.

Arriving in Nara, we made our way to the tourism office, received maps from a multilingual guide and walked through town to the park. The town’s mascot is a Buddha with deer antlers. As we meandered through the ancient capitol of Japan, past the second-tallest pagoda, the number of deer we passed confirmed the reason for this – not shy at all, the deer roam everywhere and have become accustom to receiving food from visitors.

[PHOTO OF DEER]

Nara was quite simple – we visited the “big Buddha,” saw more deer, ate kakigori and returned to the station to try to get back to Kyoto in time to meet Zach and Emily. The train we caught was the slow town, but it was enjoyable for the first 15 minutes as we entered a car with what seemed like 3 baseball teams – all from the same junior high school outside of Kyoto – who were enthralled with speaking with Erin. After they left, the train got slower and at the first opportunity we switched over to the express, got back to Kyoto Station and got a cab back to the hotel.

[PHOTO OF BUDDHA]

Back in the room, we saw that Zach and Emily had already arrived but were nowhere to be found. I went down looking for them, and they had ventured out to try to meet Dean and Loryn, who had just returned from Kyosan. In the lobby, we converged and all piled into the room.

[PHOTO OF PURICULA]

After greetings, we split off and Zach, Haynes, Emily, Erin and I joined Tristan for dinner – we ventured near the tiny stream and entered an izikaya, where we got all you can eat and drink for 2 hours for $35 a person. There we ate and drank – fortunately I had drank the hangover cure drink made from some root and served chilled in a golden aluminum container – and ate and drank some more. After, we hit up the pircula booth and tried semi-successfully to squeeze all six of us into one machine. After Emily and Zach’s first go at decorating, we hailed a cab and made it back in time to only barely wake Dean and Loryn.

Kyoto, it's been too long: The traveling life of a Riley twin

During my usual travels, or at least those on my own and with Haynes, our modis operende is to visit (or find a place), stay a day or two (or three/four at the most) and move on. That’s it – constant movement. I guess I like the feeling of being on the move – it must be that feeling of the threshold that fulfills me.

Going against this travel style, however, we planned our Asian journey to post up in towns for several nights at a time as our home bases – venturing out for day trips. We started planning like I traditionally like to write a paper – write it all and then edit down. Knowing that what is reality and what is in my mind when it comes to travel time, our month long journey at first even included a stop over in the remote Papua New Guinea and wearing fins in Cairns for a quick dip near the Great Barrier Reef. After months of discussion between the several parties here (as I write this, I’m sitting in the car with 6 other North Little Rock-ians), we cut out several of the stops and arrived at a reasonable itinerary – balancing the stop-and-go with a few anchor-spots.

To the point of this blog, Kyoto was the first of those anchors. After leaving Miyajima, Erin, Haynes and I jumped a bullet train to Kyoto and settled in for 6 days and 5 nights. Not all of the days/stories are complete as we have found it hard to find free internet and, even more so, free time while traveling with such an amazing group, but the following photos and stories highlight our time in the second capital of Japan – a hilltop/river village of 1.4 million speckled with temples (and what seems to be the capitol of World Heritage Sites).

Day 1 - Thursday, Aug. 1

From Kyoto Station, Haynes, Erin and I took a cab to the Westin – where Dean and Loryn turned us onto a good deal (splitting a hotel cost is just as cheap as staying in a hostel most times in Japan). After settling in, we walked down our street in search for fresh fruit for Erin and dinner. We passed by a gallery as soon as we left the hotel and talked to the owner for a bit. The work was screen-printed wall paper and just under ten pencil drawings hung at varying heights on top of the yellow, black and white printed wall. Further along the walk we stumbled upon a hip area along the river and found a place called Salvatore’s where we had a salami pizza. Afterward, we went to the grocery store next door and stocked up on fresh fruit, two root beers and an Inca cola. Then back to the hotel for an early night in.

Day 2 - Friday, Aug. 2
We woke up and ran varying miles up and down the hills of the hotel area, which was on the east side of town. We spent some time in the hotel using the internet we had paid for to blog and plan parts of the trip that we needed to finalize hotels or travel. Haynes did some research on food and we commenced our day by journeying uptown through the art district and university area to eat at a vegetarian restaurant named Sunny Place.

The proprietors were a great example of collaboration. The younger woman was a mother of 3 children, whose only son was excited about the Kamen Rider exhibition at the International Manga Museum. She had lived in New York City for 2 years and in Boston for a while and was a devoted vegetarian, working in vegetarian restaurants in both places where she also studied and learned English. The older woman, her friend, wanted to start a Sake bar/restaurant in Kyoto. The younger woman, who wasn't named Sunny, convinced the older woman, who also wasn't named Sunny, to open something a little more unique, since Sake bars and drunk Japanese men weren't the ideal business opportunity for the aging woman. Well, we're happy they made that decision, because we ate a delicious lunch and decided what to do with the rest of our afternoon from the conversation we had. To learn more about the Kamen (or "Masked") Rider, we walked by the walled Imperial Palace and through the surrounding park to the International Manga Museum. There we observed the masses reading Japanese comics (comics may be underselling the importance and widespread readership of Manga - not to mention the widespread influence). After journeying through the evolution of the Kamen Rider, we left for dinner at a yakitori (chicken on a stick) place and once satiated, braved the rain and clouds back to the hotel where we reunited with Dean and Loryn for a champagne toast before shut eye.

Day 3 - Saturday, Aug. 3
We ran. Found a new place to stay at Hostel K's. While cooling down, we worked. Then we walked to the 5-storied pagoda where Erin, Haynes and I each sketched a version. See mine below.

After, we caught a random bus north and got off before it started turning west. We walked around a narrow cool street near the river and decided on eating at the top of a shopping mall. We settled on a Chinese buffet and there ran into a fellow Arkansan - Tristan Evans from Searcy. That day I was wearing my Arkansas Intramural soccer championship shirt - while traveling, I try to wear Arkansas items as a means to connect. This time, as almost always, it worked. With all of the variables in place - in Asia, in Japan, in Kyoto, on this date, taking a random bus, walking a random distance down a random almost-alley, passing all of the Japanese restaurants because we would eat this food when Zach and Emily arrived, arriving at a major crossroads, deciding on dining at a shopping center food court, selecting a Chinese buffet, wearing a Razorback t-shirt and the personality of Tristan - the world proved itself small again. So, we exchanged contact information with Tristan and planned to meet up when the rest of the group joined.

COMING SOON: Day 4 - 6 in Kyoto, Mt. Fuji and lots from Tokyo!

eating our way from hiroshima to miyajima and beyond

after meeting up with Erin, our attention turned to food. not saying that Erin likes eating, but a note that she knew exactly what to eat and what to try. actually, since we've been here, our attention has been on food - see previous posts on meals had in Osaka. Haynes and I compared this journey to prior travels where eating snack bars and packed food (even Chef Boyardee canned ravioli in Rome) was the norm. Not the case now that we are older, wiser and hungrier.

so, our journey in food continues. since the last blog post, after our run, we found a mom and pop grill and tasted the local Hiroshima version of Okonomiyaki - which included soba noodles and an egg (kind of like the spaghetti omelette described in some of the Cameroon posts below). I was the only one of us who could conquer my entire serving, which we ate across from a group of elementary school kids with backpacks.

after this meal, we wrote and sent our first postcards and then caught the local trolley toward Miyajima - an island home to the world famous floating Torii gate of the Itsukushima shinre. once off the trolley, we rode a ferry to the island, met with the local deer (see below one trying to eat me) and labored through a sweaty run up a hill and entered our ryokan - a traditional Japanese hotel where the floors are tatami mats, the room is spacious and the rules are traditional (no shoes).

after cooling down, we mozied over to the Torii gate at low tide and shared photo space with a black-shirted boy band and hundreds of little snails occupying the shells littered throughout the puddles.

we walked around the gate barefoot (except for Haynes who just got his alpargatas soaked), in what seemed like mud and algae fields, admiring the imperfection of the uprooted trees, painted bright orangeish-red (actually vermillion - traditional color of all Torii gates) to match the adjacent shrine. I made my addition to the gate, tossing a rock from the sand onto the lower beam of the gate, joining dozens of others placed there over the years. as we set our feet back above the high tide line onto the island, we met a nice family from California whose oldest daughter just moved to Kobe with her three daughters - the two younger of whom displayed their grasp of the Japanese language by singing us a song about different colors of tulips.

during our walk to the gate and back, we added to our gastro-focused journey, tasting steamed oysters (amazing), deep fried manju (custard-filled - even more amazing) and kakigori (shaved ice - and Erin's favorite thing, her Japanese email is even kakigori).

back to our floor mats, we ate dinner - more or less a taster for everything raw and from the sea that you could think of. Erin couldn't even provide me with a list, so here is a list that includes the only things I can remember: pickled plum, hormones, raw shrimp (which I cooked in the boiling nabe pot), fresh salmon, tako (octopus) and wasabi salad, snail (which I haven't had since Cameroon) and more. See the photo below to see if you can identify more.

after dinner, we used the onsen (public bath) - sitting down to bath with other naked men and then stepping into a hot tub, more or less. after the bath, we walked back down to the Torii gate in our yukata (traditional robe). at night, the gate is lit - really highlighting its "floating" nature. they say this is one of the "top 3 views of Japan" - a statement I can definitely agree with (and will continue to compare to other views throughout our travels).

on thursday morning, we woke up for a 3 mile run and a third visit to the Torii gate. after stretching, back at the ryokan, we changed into our yukatas and headed to breakfast, yet another round of food tasting - another list that I can't make because we couldn't really name everything on our plates. But I know it included miso soup, rice, salmon, radish, seaweed and much more.

after breakfast, it was back to the onsen, where we bathed, relaxed and then hit our tatami mats for the last time to pack our bags. in the lobby we left our bags, where they grouped them by throwing a pink net over them, and headed for a visit to the shrine itself. we took the back route to the 5-storied pagoda, where we answered questions in English for some local school children. after the pop quiz, we paid to enter the Itsukushima shrine, modeled for the camera in front of some black and white stripes mixed in with the vermillion and saw the Torii gate for the last time from the view of the shrine.

after our visit, we took a final walk through the "mile" of food - where we again ate oysters, kakigori and deep fried manju. I'm telling you - amazing. back at the ryokan, we gathered our gear, caught a ride to the port and got back on the ferry to the mainland. there we caught the slow train to Hiroshima and connected to the bullet train to Kyoto, capping off our two days of eating with a Japanese-style McDonald's chicken sandwich at the station.

Osaka it to you / Hiroshima is that you?

Guest Blog with Haynes Riley

Two days ago we woke up early and went for coffee and watched the sunrise...on the Glico Running Man neon advertisement board. As soon as Dean and Loryn (who turned 27 on August 1st) woke up we headed back to Dontonbori street to eat tako-yaki (a grilled octopus fried dumpling) and Okonomiyaki (a grilled cabbage pizza-pancake)—both Japanese specialities. It was a delicious breakfast/brunch/lunch/snack before we walked through the arcades and streets of Osaka towards the Castle. On the way there, we stopped into a Uniqlo and Hunter bought a new t-shirt for his wardrobe. He changed out of his oldest Uniqlo item, a gray v-neck t-shirt that he purchased in NYC in 2007 when I lived there, and threw it away. This was one of Hunter's goals when he came to Japan—to stock up on new Uniqlo t-shirts and get rid of his old and ratty ones; something I've had a hard time doing with my favorite shirts.


We planned to ride the Tempozan Ferris Wheel that evening after visiting the Castle, but as soon as we got to the hotel I fell fast asleep, still trying to adjust to the time-change. Instead, after I woke up from my long nap, we went back to the Shinsaibashi district where all the shopping was located. We tried to find yet another recommended restaurant from the NYTimes Travel section. This time, it was closed, permanently possibly. Around the corner, we stepped into a Ramen bar and filled our stomachs with savory pork and noodles, not slurping near as much as the Japanese guest next to Hunter but enjoying the warm meal nonetheless.

We walked back to the hotel and went out on the "balcony" of Dean and Loryn's room to celebrate and watch the night time sky glow. As soon as we got back to our room an earthquake shook and I felt drunk. Dean called our room to inform me that it was the earth moving and not the effects of the night cap.

The next morning—yesterday morning—we woke up early and packed. We headed to the train station on the north side of the city and caught our first Shinkansen, also known informally as the "bullet train." We arrived in Hiroshima an hour and a half later and dropped our bags off at the hotel. We were meeting Erin there in mid-afternoon.


We headed to the Peace Memorial Park and Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum in the meantime. In the museum, we followed a timeline of Japan's involvement in wars leading up to the dropping of the Atomic Bomb and the reconstruction thereafter. Outlined was a fair picture of the complexity of the decision to use atomic warfare during that period in world history and a loud cry for nuclear disarmament and peace and solidarity around the world.


Ultimately, it is the latter part of the museum, where your eyes begin to swell with tears. It is in this section where you can only sympathize with victims of the A-bomb and their plight. It is also in this section where you read the story of Sadako Sasaki. Our mother also came here when she visited in March and was so inspired by the young hibakusha's story that she took up the craft of folding cranes—teaching herself that night. She has presently folded 1000+ cranes in hope that they provide the same quality of energy and grant the positive wishes/prayers of those affected by recent events in Japan. After walking to the A-bomb Dome, which is a beautiful and stark reminder of the atrocities that occurred, we met Erin back at the hotel.


The rest of the night was relaxing. We ate shashimi—fatty salmon and magouro (tuna). We also ordered fried lotus flower chips, octupus wasabi salad and salmon roe. Afterwards, we went and entertained ourselves at the nearest arcade with purikula; a Japanese photo booth that lets you adorn your photos with girlish stickers and twinkly effects. It's the BEST! : ) We have a goal to document each day we are traveling together in a purikula. Get ready! I don't usually use exclamations or emoticons, but really, those are sincere. On the way back to the hotel we stopped at a "dive" bar with a similar aesthetic as the Mystery Trip Bar in Osaka. Hunter was fascinated by the ball of ice that came in his whiskey cocktail. It had a 3-inch diameter. We talked with the locals, listening to Erin comprehend their Japanese and speak back to them in English. We returned home and went to sleep.


This morning we woke up and ran 2 miles around the Peace Memorial Park and got some coffee at Starbucks. Erin is collecting locally-inspired tumblers (plastic travel mugs). The one in Hiroshima has an illustration of a paper crane on it. She will sip green tea while Hunter and I drink our black coffee. We came back to the hotel and did a few minutes of yoga. Now we are showering and preparing to go out for lunch and then head to Miyajima low-tide at the tori gate—one of the "3 views" of Japan.