This post is dedicated to EC, to whom I promised to tell this story. Hike Fuji! Step 1: Skip the Planning The beauty of Fuji It's one of the curious dichotomies of life that often, the harder you hold onto something, the more likely it will slip your grasp. Hearts have been broken by this age-old rule. Fortunes squandered. Kingdoms lost. Sometimes, you need to let go. Sometimes, you need to say "to Hell with planning" and just let things happen. Our story today comes courtesy of yesterday. Or yesteryear, rather. August in the late 90's tucked somewhere between the trial of O.J. Simpson and the Monica Lewinsky scandal. I was visiting my college friend John who was stationed at the U.S. Naval Base at Yokosuka, south of Tokyo. After an interesting visit of Tokyo involving coffin hotels and irritating Yakuza at the onsen , we planned to climb Mt. Fuji on my last weekend before going home. ...
The life and times of an American from Vietnam, back in Vietnam, from America