On the Road to Fuji

I packed my backpack the night before and rushed to the station to make sure to catch the bus on time. I was eager to climb and ready to rush up Mt Fuji before I even stepped on the bus. The bus, however, took 8 hours to reach the mountain. It was an O.K. bus though.
This is a scenery pic from one of our rest stops on the way to the mountain.
This is a scenery pic from inside the bus which I'm posting mostly for the purpose of embarrassing those who were able to fall asleep on the ride over (I was not among them, unfortunately).
I actually took this picture on the way to Fukui from the Tokyo orientation a few weeks ago. That is Mt Fuji in the background.

Most people seem to say the same thing after climbing Fuji, "That was a beautiful, but I'm never going to do it again." You see, as popular as it is with tourists, Fuji is a surprisingly arduous climb. Never mind the packs of battle-hardened elderly women who climb it, for young and old alike it is a mighty difficult task. Many in our group said that this trip left them more exhausted than anything else they've experienced.

The inevitable question after reaching the peak in a state of near physical collapse is, "was it worth it all?" I imagine it must be a bit like childbirth. Extreme exhaustion and pain followed by one of life's most beautiful moments. Is it worth it?
Probably not, but people keep doing it anyway.