Reset search
Japan North to SouthJapan North to South
SatelliteEdit route

Japan North to South

May - June 2016
A 53-day adventure by Patrick Read more
  • 53footprints
  • 2countries
  • 53days
  • 287photos
  • 0videos
  • 4.7kkilometers
Follow Calendar Share Bucket list
Date ascending
  • Patrick VorsteveldJapan North to South
    Day 12

    Nekkodon

    May 20, 2016 in Japan ⋅ ⛅ 10 °C

    I had seen all i wanted to see in Hakodate so it was time to move on. So i got on board the newly built Hokkaido Shinkansen which would take me to Morioka, with a short stop in Aomori. Ronja and Ole, whom i met in Sapporo, told me about this fishmarket in Aomori when you can make your own bowl of donburi, called Nekkodon. You buy a number of coupons which you can trade for all kinds of seafood freshly caught. It's even cut into nice convenient slices so it's ready to eat. It's so incredibly fresh and delicious that i finished the bowl before i thought of taking a picture of it. After having a cup of tea on the seaside it was time to go our own ways. We said our goodbyes and i boarded the Shinkansen again after getting a seat reservation. This was actually a first since there had been no need before. Luckily it's free of charge and the people behind the counter usually understand it when you say "seat reservation". :-)
    The trainride with the Shinkansen was smooth as always and i quickly arrived at Morioka. I got a riceball and OJ for lunch and went to the remains of Morioka castle, which is made into a city park. It was so good to sit in the shade for a bit cause the sun was really beating down. I am really considering buying some shorts even though the added extra weight give me the shivers (pun not intended ;-)) I went to the hotel to check in and get a short nap since i really started to feel that i woke up at 5.30 this morning. Yes yes i know, i am getting old...:-P The nap turned into a 2 hour sleep and i already felt a lot better. I went outside for a short walk through the city center and got me a "Cup of Noodles" to eat in my hotel room. I watched some crazy Japanase gameshow and finally crashed at around 9pm.    Read more

  • Patrick VorsteveldJapan North to South
    Day 12

    Recovery market

    May 20, 2016 in Japan ⋅ ☀️ 17 °C

    First thing on my to do list today was Gebikei gorge. I got there a little late because i slept way to long but luckily the trainride wasn't too long. A short walk from the trainstation and i could immediately step into one of the flatboats that would take me and about 15 japanese people through the gorge. The boat is pushed forward by a man with a large pole (definitaley no pun intended!) and although he explained everything in Japanese, it was easy to understand whith help of the english brochure. It's a absolutely beautiful gorge and since the river is slowly and calmly flowing it makes for an easy and relaxing trip. At the end you get to leave the boat and try to throw some stones into a hole in the cliff on the other side of the water. Pretty hard to do and considering and for only 100 yen per 5 stones a pretty sweet deal (for the person selling them :-)) on the way back you are treated to a wonderfull (and slightly harrowing) local folk song.
    We got back to the pier and i had to make a run for the train. Normally i make it a thing not to run for public transport but since the next one would be 2,5 hours later i decided to break my own rules and make a run for it. As i got to the station, which is basically just a narrow platform with a booth on it, i could see the train coming. I got onboard al panting and sweating and sat down for about an hour until the train would arrive at Kesennuma. This place was very badly hit in march 2011 when the tsunami struck. A big part of this town, along with a lot of inhabitants were completely washed away... And although streets and buildings were being rebuilt, it was still easy to see the damage that the tsunami left behind.
    Now i wasn't there to witness the destruction because i don't like to prey on other peoples misfortune. And therefore you won't see any pictures of destroyed buildings and such. But i really wanted to visit one of the "recovery markets", a place they have setup with local shop owners who lost all of their belongings (and possibly even more) and who are recovering through tourism. A wonderfull and inspiring way of recovery. After a half an hour walk from the station i found one and was initially dissapointed to see it was nearly all closed. They would open later in the evening but that was too late for Morioka. Fortunately a couple of shops were open and i struck op a conversation with the friendly locals. Almost none of them understood english so i quickly found myself surrounded by around 15 Japanese trying to make conversation. My question in Japanese if anyone spoke English or even Dutch got some laughters but we had to reside on google translate to communicate. Which i have to admit worked wonderfully well. I ordered a chocolate and whipcream pancake and got a lot of laughs trying to eat my pancake in a very messy way. :-) We spoke about my vacation and the situation in Kessennuma. Unfortunately i had to get back to the station to catch the last train and so after a quick picture we said our goodbyes and i went back to the station. I slept all the way through on the train (it was one of those shaky local trains which always make me fall asleep right away) Back in the hotel i got a small glass of the whisky i got from the Nikka distillery and fell asleep.Truly awesome day!    Read more

  • Patrick VorsteveldJapan North to South
    Day 13

    Craft beer

    May 21, 2016 in Japan ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C

    I like to incorporate a bit of nature and park things into my itinerary. I find it relaxing to just walk around in a forest or just stare at mountains in the distance. So today i chose to go to Tazawanuma a caldera lake east of Morioka. The trip would be a fairly easy one, just one ride with the Shinkansen to Senboku station and then a short 12 minute bus ride to the lake. I got out of the bus and the tourboat was already waiting and so within 5 minutes i was cruising the lake. I can't tell you much more about the lake except that it's 442.3 meters deep since all the explanation was only in Japanese. Nevertheless it was a nice boatride and since the weather was really sunny and clear we had some nice views of the surrounding mountains. There were two short stops along the way, one for a shinto shrine and another one was a famous statue of a local girl called Tatsuko. According to legend, Tatsuko was a beautiful girl who prayed to retain her beauty forever but was instead cursed and turned into a dragon and eventually sunk to the bottom of Lake Tazawa. After that it was back to the pier and i took the bus back to Senboku station. I checked the timetable for the Shinkansen that would take me back to Morioka. The train arrived and i was kind of suprised since i expected the train to come from the opposite direction but since i have this all the time here in Japan i did not think very much of it and boarded the train and fell asleep. After about an hour of light napping i was surprised to hear the anouncer call Akita as the next and final station. I got into the wrong train! At first i wanted to take the next train back to Morioka but i figured i could just stroll around Akita for a bit and take the next train back. That turned out to be a good choice. A local TV station held a small festival there with music and i believe some famous comedians. And of course plenty of food stalls with all different kinds of meat skewers, noodles and whatnot. And somewhere tucked in between was a stall from a local Akita craft beer brewery. They use rice as one of their ingredient and it gives their beer a wonderfully refreshing tast. Of course i had to try all three beers they had on tap and meanwhile i had a nice talk with Ikukosan from the brewery. Slightly inebriated, I got to the station and actually took the right train back to Morioka. I watched some crazy karaoke show in my hotel room for a while and went to bed.Read more

  • Patrick VorsteveldJapan North to South
    Day 14

    Sendai

    May 22, 2016 in Japan ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C

    Oh where to begin? These 5 days in Sendai have been a real boost to my spirits. After staying in Hakodate and Morioka in hotels and not meeting many english speaking people i got worn down a bit. And since i hadn't been to Sendai before i did not know what to expect. The first day i arrived somewhere early in the afternoon and i decided to just go for a walk and get a feel of the city. I bought a pair of shorts (lightweight of course) that suited the warmer weather of the last couple of days and had a short nap in a small park and went to find the huge Buddha status i had seen when i came into Sendai with the Shinkansen. With a little help from the people at the busstation i figured out which bus to take and 30 minutes later a was looking at a 100 meter high Buddha statue. This thing was huge! I walked around it and found the entrance at the foot of the statue. You could take the stairs all the way to the top where you could touch the head and belly of a wooden Buddha statue for good luck. On the way down my vertigo kicked in because i could see all the way down inside the statue. And so so i found myself clinging to the walls more and more. I got back to the bus stop and a 20 minute walk took me to the hostel. The Keyaki hostel is located in the bustling red light disctrict of Sendai with plenty of things to see and do. ;-) I checked in and Mumi, the girl at the reception showed me the facilities of the hostel and my dormitory and introduced me to Nozomi, the owner and Mae and Natsumi who also worked there. The hostel use to be a restaurant and breathed the cozy atmosphere of an old style japanese house. I felt right at home. I took a quick shower and joined some fellow travellers from Germany who where playing cards. After a while the people from the staff joined us and we had a great evening talking about whatnot. I turned to bed late already feeling better than the last couple of days. This was going to be good!Read more

  • Patrick VorsteveldJapan North to South
    Day 15

    Loople

    May 23, 2016 in Japan ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

    One of the consequences of staying up late is that getting out of bed gets to be a bit harder. I therefore decided to change my original plan a bit for today. Natsumi advised me to take the loople line, a bus that stops at all the interesting places. I was a bit hesitant at first but i decided to go for it. Since Natsumi pointed out the best attractions i figured it was a good way to check out the best things Sendai had to offer without having to sit in the bus all day. I visited a shrine and mausoleum from the Date clan, the founders of modern day Sendai. The remains of Sendai castle weren't that spectacular but offered a great view over the city. Unfortunately the botanical garden was closed so i figure i have to go back another day. The sun was really beating down so i got myself a couple of cold ones and cooled down and chilled with the German travellers again. Natsumi was also there and although her English was not that good we managed to have a great talk throug google translate and had quite some laughs with the dodgy translations sometimes. She told me she started studying English since yesterday. :-) Later in the evening Eric from Norway arrived at the hostel and he joined the party. We both had plans on visiting Matsushima together the next day and so we decided to go there together. But not after having more brewskis and fun obviously. Sendai just kept getting better and better!Read more

  • Patrick VorsteveldJapan North to South
    1
    Day 16

    Islands

    May 24, 2016 in Japan ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

    Yesterday evening i talked with Eric from Norway about Matsuhima and we decided to get there together and watch the beautiful island dotted bay in front of Matsushima. We met up early at eight and took a nice stroll to Sendai station since the weather was good and we had plenty of time since Matsushima was only a 30 minute trainride through the mountains. We got off at the wrong station but quickly noticed that it was just a short 20 minute walk to the Matsushima harbor and decided to go on foot and enjoy the surroundings. We got to the harbour and bought a ticket for the boat that would take us around the bay. The boat had just left and the next departure time was in one hour. We saw a long red bridge connected one of the closer islands and since we had enough time we crossed the bridge and took a nice stroll on the island. It was a lot bigger than we expected and so we had to rush back to the boat because we only had a couple of minutes before it left. Unfortunately our 5 minute sprint didn't help because just as we arrived the boat left. So we had to wait another hour for the next boat. We went for another short walk to a smaller shrine on another island and made sure to keep a closer eye on the time. ;-) We met a nice girl from the US who also bought a ticket for the same boattrip and so we decided to go together. The boattrip passed several islands on the way and we got a great explanation about the area in Japanese. Which was really useful. ;-) After the boattrip we said goodbye to Ashley and Eric and I went for a decent lunch at a local lunch. We were the only ones in this huge restaurant and so we were served very fast (even for japanese standards). I wanted something more homeley so i went for pizza. We walked back to the station and all of a sudden were surrounded by schoolkids saying Hello! and Konnichiwa! If we said Konnichiwa, hajimemashite back we would get a lot of laughs and so they kept saying it until we were at the station. We got the train back to the hostel where we sat down with the hostel staff and other guest before getting out for some Karaoke and since i wanted to do this for a long time i was really anxious. Because we had a mixed Japanese/European group the song selection was very diverse. We went from Sukiyaki to Final Countdown, from Finger 5 to Carpenters and whatnot. Especially my singing was horrible but luckily that is not really important in karaoke. It was just awesome and i will definitely do it again. We got home to the hostel and i tought Natsumi some new words while drinking some tasty beverages before going to bed.Read more

  • Patrick VorsteveldJapan North to South
    Day 17

    1057

    May 25, 2016 in Japan ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C

    I told Natsumi about my plans to go to Yamadera to see a temple on a steep mountainside. She had the day off and had never been to Yamadera so we took off together. The trainride took about an hour, so i tought her some new English words and she tought me some Japanese. A five minute walk took us from the station to the start of the climb. Which was primarily a lot of stairs through a forest. It's been said that there are 1057 and there are signs along the stairs that you only have 650 steps to go. Very encouraging. The first couple of hundred steps were allright but after that it became steeper and steeper and we had to take regular breaks to catch our breath. After about an hour we reached te top of the stairs and the view of the temple from the top made the climb well worth it. Natsumi reminded me to get my goschuincho for a new seal but after rummaging through my backpack i discovered i forgot to take it with me. As i told her i forgot it she just bursted out laughing. The day before i told her i always forget or lose stuff. Like my toothbrush in the shower, my jacket in the onsen and my phone nearly three times in the toilet of a konbini. She said and i quote "No surprise!" and just laughed more. :-D
    It was time to go down again and the descent was a lot easier. The sun had begun to shine and so the climb up would only have been harder. We got back on the train to Sendai to get some beef tongue for dinner becaus the climb made us both hungry. We talked about stuff and she tought me some new words of which "hetakuso" was the one i remember best. According to the translation app on her phone it means "incompetent shit". I bursted out laughing loud in the train before telling her i would use this word a lot from now on. Back in Sendai we got back to the hostel to drop off our stuff and wait until the Gyutan restaurant opened at five. Gyutan is ox-tongue and it is a local specialty in Sendai. It's hard to exactly describe the tast if you never had it yourself but it's a bit like steak only far more succulent and tender. On Natsumi's advise i took the thin sliced Gyu-tan and it's utterly delicious. You get thin slices of tonge with almost no added flavors and it's unbelievably good. I now the idea might gross you out but do yourself a favor and try it at least once. And maybe the biggest surprise is that all this goodness will set you back 1600 yen, which is roughly 12 euros, an absolute bargain.
    Back in the hotel we had another great evening with the staff and some new guests. I gues you are beginning to understand why there was a lack of updates these last few days. ;-)    Read more

  • Patrick VorsteveldJapan North to South
    1
    Day 18

    Pond

    May 26, 2016 in Japan ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

    Shunsan, a guest from the hostel invited me to join him to the onsen town of Sakunami. I had no other plans yet and it would be nice to just take it easy after al these hectic days. At Sakunami station a free bus picked us up and brought us to Ichinobo onsen, one of the bigger onsens in the area. After all the rituals of taking of shoes, changing into a yukata and cleaning and washing it was finally time to enter the baths. The advantage of bigger onsens is that they have multiple baths with different water compositions but more importantly different temperatures. I myself like the 'colder' baths with temperatures of up to 41 degrees but there are baths of 45 degrees and up. Now four degrees might not sound as a big difference but trust me it is. :-) They have some nice inside baths but the one that won this for me was the outside ones. There were 4 outside baths together with various tempatures but the view was absolutely gorgeous. A huge rock in the middle with trees clinging on its's sides and a river with waterfalls meandering past the baths, fishes swimming in the river and crickets and birds in the background. Just awe-inspiring. After an hour or so we figured it was time to relax in the common area with a cup of tea. I noticed another bath and asked Shunsan what type of onsen this was. He said "No, this is just a pond". Woopsie! :-P
    We planned to leave at one but got a message that the train had an accident and we had to wait at least two hours before it would be fixed. So we decided to do another round in the onsen. After two hours the train was still not fixed so we grabbed a bus which would take a bit longer to get back but at least we would get back. As the bus arrived in Sendai i said goodbye to Shunsan and went back to the hostel for the big farewell dinner. I met up with Natsumi and Mae again and went shopping for ingredients at the local supermarket. I let Natsumi do all the shopping since i had no idea what was what. Kanji is still a challenge for me. ;-P
    Back in the hostel we started cooking and made home-style okonomiyaki and temaki sushi with salmon, egg, natto and other things. It must have looked really funny to see me pretend to know what i was doing. ;-) As we were about to eat a girl from Hong Kong, Vanessa, checked in and we invited her to join dinner. Some more guest came in and i had a great last evening at Keyaki guest house and it's awesome staff. :-D I know already i will definately be back. Definately!    Read more

  • Patrick VorsteveldJapan North to South
    Day 19

    Thank you Keyaki

    May 27, 2016 in Japan ⋅ ☁️ 16 °C

    I allways hate these days. You have a great time with wonderfull people in a cool place and then you have to leave. It just plain sucks. :-( This was one of those days. I know it's a sign that you had a good time and made some great memories but still. Meh.
    I slept in untl around 9 o'clock and even decided to take a later train to Suzaka but the inevitable had come. I had to say goodbye to Nozomi and Natsumi whom, together with Mae and Mumi, i had so much fun with. I always find it hard to find the right words so i just gave them a big hug and a heartfelt thank you before i set off to my next destination. We didn't stop waving to eachother until i was around the corner. As i walked to Sendai station i felt sad and grumpy. But i had to move on. Next stop on my trip would be Suzaka and that would make up for a lot since the owner of Kura Guest house is a very warm and welcoming person. I primarily slept in the train and after walking around downtown Nagano for a bit, i took the local Nagano Dentetsu line to Suzaka. I picked up some beers at the local Aeon supermarket and walked to the guest house. I was not really paying attention and was about to pass the guesthouse when i heard an excited Marina shout "Paturiku!!". I felt a lot better right away. I gave her a big hug and was introduced to another guest from Nagano. Two girls from Australia joined us later. It was so good to be back again! We just talked about the past 18 months and just about everything else. I went to bed feeling a lot better than when i woke up.    Read more

  • Patrick VorsteveldJapan North to South
    Day 20

    Bears

    May 28, 2016 in Japan ⋅ ☁️ 12 °C

    One of the things i was most anxious to see in the Nagano area was Togakushi. A shrine in a forested mountainous area just about an hour away from Nagano. Marina helped me out with all the bus schedules and gave me some great tips on where to get some delicious cold soba noodles. The busstop from Nagano station was a bit tricky to find but i got there on time to buy a busticket and be on my way. There are a total of 5 shrines to be visited and i had planned for at least 3. The first two are just a straight 30 minute walk away from the entrance of the park and consisted mainly of a beautiful walk on a path through gigantic, hundreds of years old trees. The sunny weather made it even better. I got some nice seals for my goshuincho and walked back to the big entrance gate where the paths split up to some nice single tracks through the woods. An absolutely wonderful walk, that is until i saw the big sign with kanji and hiragana printed big and red and a picture of a bear. Now i would not say that i was nervous or scared but i walked the trail roughly twice as fast as indicated on the map. After a while i calmed down a bit and actually enjoyed the wonderful sight of some small lakes and shrines right in the middle of the woods. I ended up at the last shrine and after seeing what i believed was a wedding, i headed to the restaurant that Marina recommended to me. Now cold soba is a specialty of that area but this one had also a dipping soup/broth/sauce that was made of ground up walnut. You just pick up the soba and dip it into the walnut mix. It's so incredibly tasty. The people at the table behind me must have heard me grunt of joy while is was eating. I got back just in time for the bus to Nagano and after a day of walking i just fell asleep in the bus. (just like most locals. When in Rome... ;-)) Before heading back to the guest house i made a quick stop at Zenko-ji temple. I had been here befor at my first stay in Suzaka but had not been able to get a seal for my book. After that it was off to the guest house where some new people from Germany and Canada had arrived and another great evening with talks and beers followed. This is getting repetitive. ;-)Read more

  • 2024© FindPenguins
  • Home
  • About us
  • Blog
  • Group Tracking
  • Press
  • Terms
  • Privacy Policy & Cookies
  • Support
  • Legal notice
  • English