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Japan North to South

May - June 2016
A 53-day adventure by Patrick Read more
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  • Patrick VorsteveldJapan North to South
    Day 1

    Gate C10

    May 9, 2016 in the Netherlands ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C

    Got to Schiphol Airport with plenty of time to spare. So it's time to start of this vacation with a traditional cold one. :-) This set of flights to Sapporo will take just over 18 hours so maybe i'll have another one just to be safe.Read more

  • Patrick VorsteveldJapan North to South
    22
    Day 2

    Transfers and noodles`

    May 10, 2016 in Japan ⋅ ⛅ 14 °C

    With all the flying and transfers and time difference going on it took me from monday morning to tuesday afternoon local time to get to my first destination, Sapporo. Because Sapporo airport isn't serviced by European airliners i had to transfer at Nagoya airport which cost me about 5 additional hours.
    Nevertheless it was a good trip and since the transfers were pretty short it wasn't really a problem. After all i'm on vacation right? :-)
    After taking care of mobile internet and the Railpasses for the entire trip i figured i just as well get me a Kitaca card. This is a chipcard you can use for checking in and out of subway stations as well as paying for food and drinks at stations. This can save you a lot of work and headaches if you know the subway system and how payment works here. Especially if you have 273 subway stations like in Tokyo for example.
    Getting the card however turned out to be a challenge. The guy behind the counter didn't speak English and since my Japanese consists roughly of being able to say "i speak a little Japanese" it took a lot of verbal and non verbal communication (including the help of Google translate) to get the card. Even a simple form with questions like name, birthday etc takes a lot of work. But in the end we even managed to get my name written in Japanese on the card, Peturiku. A train trip and 10 minute walk finally got me to the hotel where i checked in and took a long shower and short rest before heading of to a noodle bar that was recommended by the Khaosan hostel's receptionist. For only 760 yen you get a huge bowl of miso noodle soup (or whatever other flavor you wish) and it's insanely good! I will probably visit this place a couple more times. Now i'm in the hostels common room typing this short report before i'm off to bed. I think the jetlags kicking in right now...
    P.S. Did i mention already that the toilets are awesome here?    Read more

  • Patrick VorsteveldJapan North to South
    Day 3

    Sakura

    May 11, 2016 in Japan ⋅ ☁️ 11 °C

    One of the first things on my wishlist for this vacation was to watch the sakura trees. Not in the least because most of them have already finished blooming. I took the subway and then a local bus to Moerenuma Park where some of the last blooming sakura trees were. I took a half an hour walk to get to the cherry blossom trees but i was rewarded wit some great looking and smelling sakura. I strolled around the park some more and climbed up the vantage point which had 211 steps to take a panorama picture of Sapporo. I walked back to the busstop and when i got in the bus i realized i was the only adult passanger in a bus packed with schoolgirls and boys. All giglling and laughing and trying not to look at me. I got back to the hostel to relax a little and work on my blog. I got to talk with some fellow travelers and we decided to go into town to the arcades. It's just the same as the fairground in Holland only a lot more noisier. One thing that really stood out for me were the Purikura machines. It's like a photobooth only with special effects you can apply to the picture. Once i get a decent copy i will share it with you. :-) We had some more beers at the hostel before i went to bed. The jetlag is still not entirely gone. ;-)Read more

  • Patrick VorsteveldJapan North to South
    Day 4

    NIkka

    May 12, 2016 in Japan ⋅ 🌙 10 °C

    I managed to wake up just a little bit easier today and figured it would be a nice day to go to the town of Yoichi where the original Nikka whisky distillery is located. (Yes, they do make whisky in Japan)
    An hour long train ride with a tranfer at Otaru took me to Yoichi station from which the distillery was only a short walk. To my suprise the distillery tour was entirely free and i was actually able to see things like the kilm and the copper kettles itself where the whisky is actually distilled. By this time the weather had cleared up and it was actually sunny and fairly warm. As an utter bonus there was a bar at the distillery where you could actually taste the various whiskys for yourself. For free! After that it was time to get back to the hostel to meet up again with Jonny and Rachel, whom i met yesterday. We had plans to do karaoke but ended up grabbing teddy bears out of machines and playing Mario Kart. Well actually mainly trying to find out how to play the same race together. Finally with the help of one of the supervisors we managed to play a round together and i ended up last, as usual. All of a sudden it was half past 4 and a lot of beers later and i nearly literally crashed into bed.    Read more

  • Patrick VorsteveldJapan North to South
    1
    Day 5

    Laundry day

    May 13, 2016 in Japan ⋅ 🌙 6 °C

    I left the alarm off to sleep a little more since i figured i would be needing it. And since i needed to do laundry i decided to stick around in Sapporo and just relax a little bit. I went straight from the laundromat to Odori park which is in downtown Sapporo and took a nice nap just like the locals were doing. I walked to the old city hall to find some of the last blooming sakura and took some great pictures of it. I explored the local shopping arcade and the rest of the day was mainly spent doing lots of nothing which was good for a change. In the evening i went out for some yakitori and had some nice skewers with chicken skin and beef tongue which actually tasted surprisingly good. Really!Read more

  • Patrick VorsteveldJapan North to South
    Day 6

    Snow and Onsen

    May 14, 2016 in Japan ⋅ ☀️ 11 °C

    I always try to incoporate some national parks into my travels to get away from the busy and crowded cities and just enjoy a little bit of hiking. Hence i boarded the Okhotsk Express train to Kamikawa and then a local bus to Sounkyo, a lovely little Onsen town in a beautiful gorge. I had to get a ticket for the local bus at the trainstation and somehow the friendly man behind the counter already knew i was going there. I gues it's the main attracton of the area. ;-) Today's goal was to climb Mt. Kurodake, a 1980 meter high mountaintop. A cablecar and chairlift would bring me up to 1500 meters from where i would climb the remaining 400 meters to the top on a well marked trail. At least that was the plan. Since it was the end of the skiing season and the summer season hadn't officialy started, the chairlift was out of commission due to maintenance. This meant i would have to climb 200 meters extra. I was in a good spirit and decided to give it a go anyway. Yeah right. From the end of the ropeway there was quite a thick layer of snow still remaining and it was really slushy due to the high temperatures of the last couple of days. It took me over an hour to just get to the top station of the chairlift and from that point the climb got even steeper and the snow deeper. I tried to climb it but after a couple of minutes getting stuck up onto my knees in the slushy snow i exclameted some words i can't really repeat here and decided to get back down and enjoy the onsen i so rightfully earned. ;-)
    Obviously the walk down was a lot easier and within half an hour (after taking of my socks and shoes to let them dry a little bit) i was back down in the town of Sounkyo. I found a nice and small onsen and enjoyed the hot springwater. It's hard to describe the soothing feeling if you have been walking around all day and then to let your body relax like that. :-)
    Since the climb took a lot less time than planned i had time to visit Mt. Moiwa in. It has a great view of the city of Sapporo. I stayed there from dawn til darkness and had a delicious crayfish soup while enjoying the view at night. Back in the hotel it was straight to bed and i fell asleep almost instantly.    Read more

  • Patrick VorsteveldJapan North to South
    Day 7

    Hell Valley

    May 15, 2016 in Japan ⋅ ⛅ 9 °C

    I originally planned this day for tomorrow, the last day of my stay in Sapporo but weather conditions made me change my plans. The town of Noboribetsu onsen is said to be one of the best onsen towns in Hokkaido so naturally i had to give it a try. Not only does this town have a lot of different hotsprings with various water compositions (ie. sulfurous, rich in mineral, calcious) but it's also famous for its gorgeous and easily reachable geothermal source for all it's spring waters. Once you get of the bus you are immediatly greeted by a gorgeous sulfurous smell. Did i say gorgeous? I meant awful. :-P The walk to the geothermal site was a short and easy one and it's a spectacular site. In the middle of a green gorge there is a barren and rocky area where nothing grows. Colums of steam and small strangely coloured streams complete the picture. I just stood there for a while and looked in awe. The pictures on this post don't do it justice. It's truly mesmerizing. From the vantage point there were several tracks to lead you around the area for more wonderful sites and attractions. One of which is a small stream which looks like any mountain stream with cold water, only this is nearly 50 degrees celcius. Perfect for making a footbath the locals must have thought. And boy it is! Just take of your socks and shoes and soak your tired feet in the creek. Delightful! I got to talk with a nice family from Taiwan who were there with their parents and kids. It was really fun and they wanted to take a picture with them and me. :-D.
    Once back in the onsen town i went to the Daiichi-Takomotokan onsen resort. By far the biggest one in Noboribetsu-onsen. With 7 different baths boasting different water compositions and temperatures and hence various health benefits. It was a great experience. It even had an outside bath with view over Jigukodani (Hell Valley). Unfortunately no pictures of the onsen for obvious reasons but trust me if i tell you it was brilliant. I can't tell you much about the ride back since i slept practically all the way. The evening in the hostel was spent with a wonderful couple from Sweden/Norway and a Canadian while trying to watch my soccer team progress to the next round for European football. Just a perfect day!    Read more

  • Patrick VorsteveldJapan North to South
    Day 8

    Rounding up Sapporo

    May 16, 2016 in Japan ⋅ 🌬 11 °C

    This last day in Sapporo i really had no big plans. One thing i had to do was my laundry, one of the consequenses when you travel light without too much clothing. I also wanted to get a new handwritten seal from Hokkaido shrine in my shuencho so i figured i'd do them in one trip. Dropped of my clothing and walked through western Hokkaido to Maruyama park where the shrine was located. Because Sapporo is built like a modern American city it consist of a grid of streets and avenues. This makes for easier navigating but the amount of crossroads with traffic lights can become frustrating. Especially since they take a long time to turn green. Although maybe my slight hangover might have to do just a little bit with it too. ;-) I got a wonderful new seal in my book and continued to walk through the park as i heard chanting in the distance. It turned out to be a highschool baseball tournament. The entrance fee was only 500 yen so i decided to check it out. I've watched professional baseball games here before and wat striked me the most was the chanting of the fans of either side. They keep singing and dancing for as long as the game lasts, which can be up to 3 hours. Talk about loyalty! It was really cold and windy in the stadium but the atmosphere was great so i stayed till the very end. I walked back again to the hostel and after a great and filling dinner at a kaiten sushi restaurant with Japanese speaking but very helpfull staff, I met up with Ronja, Ole and Stephen again. I wanted to go to bed early since i wanted to get a good headstart on my trip to Hakodate but that kind of failed because we had way too much fun. :-)Read more

  • Patrick VorsteveldJapan North to South
    1
    Day 9

    No smoking, no perfume, no curry

    May 17, 2016 in Japan ⋅ ☁️ 11 °C

    I set off early today towards Hakodate, my second and last stay in Hokkaido. Since there is no Shinkansen train (yet) between Sapporo and Hakodate it would be a 4 hour long trainride on a Rapid Express train. I therefore planned a short stop in Onumakoen, a quasi national park, to stretch my legs and get some R&R. I can't tell you much about the trainride since i was asleep for almost all of it but i woke up just in time for the station. A short walk took me to the entrance of the park wich had 2 different tracks. One of about 15 minutes and one that would take roughly one hour. I passed al the Chinese tourists taking pictures of themselves with selfie sticks and went on to do the short route first. The weather was really sunny, especially for Hokkaido standards this time of year and so the walk was short but very pleasing. So i decided to do the longer route as well. Despite the heaps of tourists, the track was very quiet and relaxing and offered some nice viewings of the two lakes of onuma, it's islands and the mountainous backdrop. I sat down on a bench and took the time to enjoy it all. Halfway through there were two girls struggling to take a picture of themselves on a bridge so i offered to take the picture for them. I guess i must be a really good photographer since they kept saying "sugoi!" which means something in the lines of "awesome". After finishing my walk i took a short nap in the grassfield near the entrance of the park and after that headed back to the station. The train was a whopping 15 minutes late but i guess nobody really cared because the sun was shining and some people just started taking pictures of the squirrels in the trees. As i arrived in Hakodate it was of to Goryukako park, a city park with loads of colorfol trees and restored buildings from when the park was still in function as a fortress to protect Hakodate from invaders.
    It was getting late in the afternoon so i walked to the Aozora Inn, where i would spend the next two nights of my stay. The Innkeeper, a lovely old lady who only spoke Japanese, showed me all about the Inn and my room. The fact that I almost don't speak any Japanese did not stop her from talking and we somehow managed to figure it all out together. The one thing she did know how to say in English was "No smoking, no perfume, no curry". I guessed she just doesn't like strong smells. :-) I took a short nap and a short stroll around the area but there was not much todo so i just went back to my room and watched some baseball before i finally fell asleep.    Read more

  • Patrick VorsteveldJapan North to South
    1
    Day 10

    20 kilometers

    May 18, 2016 in Japan ⋅ ☀️ 18 °C

    Today was the day of visiting the old city center of Hakodate and the nearby Mt. Hakodate, the namesake of the city. The friendly lady from the Inn gave me some good tips on shrines to visit and advised me to go to the tourist information center for a map of Hakodate in English and some more tips on things to visit, which i did. There are several people at the station wearing blue jackets with buttons that said Tourist Information and English speaker. I adressed a really friendly lady who gave me some great tips on things to visit in the old city center, like the old foreign merchant houses. Hakodate was one of the first cities to be opened to foreign traders after a period of seclusion that lasted more than 200 year and where only the Dutch had a small trading post in Nagasaki. The weather was really nice and so i decided to just walk around and just enjoy the scenery. I found 3 different churches in a small area which is no surprise with all the foreign traders from Russia, the US and France amongst others. The place was filled with schoolkids who were obviously enjoying the warm weather and possibly the fact that they didn't have to be at school that day. I continued walking south to Hakodate park for a brief nap and after that went looking for the Hakodate shrine to get some new seals in my book. It wasn't really hard to find because it had a huge orange Torii gate in front of it. After getting the seal i strolled around the area a bit and decided it was about time for lunch. I noticed on the way that there were some old red brick warehouses that were converted to a shopping and dining district and that it had a nice little ramen noodle shop. I got me a big bowl of noodles and slurped my way through until the bowl was empty and i was full.
    I had heard many good things about the night view of Hakodate from the top of the mountain and thought it would be a good thing to get there a bit early to make sure i had a good spot for taking pictures. These things can get kinda crowded. I took the cablecar to the summit and after taking some daytime pictures i got me a good window seat at the bar in the summit station. I ordererd a beer to kill the time and was joined by a family from Thailand. I had a great talk with the mother and son about vacations and Europe and whatnot. After saying goodbye i went back outside to get some nighttime pictures of Hakodate. It was really beautiful but also really crowded. I decided to head back down to the city and go back to the hostel to get a good nights sleep.    Read more

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