Mt. Hakodate

After a far calmer night, we arrived into Hakodate on Hokkaido greeted by a local girls school dancing on the pier. The ship's shuttle bus dropped us at the station and after a shaky start (couldn't find an ATM, the bus we hoped to catch not running), we started to yomp towards Mt. Hakodate. Through the Morning Market and past the red brick warehouses and up the lower slopes was the Hakodate Ropeway, a cable car up to the viewing points at the summit. The view from the top is supposedly spectacular at night, but looked equally impressive in the daytime.

Back at the base, we walked to the historic centre of Hakodate. Sadly the Public Hall was covered in scaffolding but the old British Consulate and similar buildings gave a strange ecletic mix of architecture to the town. Crossing the Hachiman-Zaka slope afforded great views over the port down this steep road (albeit not as steep as Lombard Street!).

We walked back through the red brick warehouse district for some shopping, taking in the local glassware specialities, before stopping off in the Hakodate microbrewery to try the local brew. Ordering could only be done on an iPad (even for drinks), continuing our experience of the weirdness of Japan - massively technological in some ways yet we've never struggled more to find places that accept credit cards!

Back on the ship, we spent a happy and relaxing afternoon in the hot tub under the sun and on the sunbeds reading.Read more