Hokkaido Trip (part one)
Aug. 19th, 2007 06:35 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
gnineOh look, this is me actually doing what I promised and posting about Hokkaido. And less than a week after the fact, even! Go me!
So, if you're interested:
So, after arising at some ungodly hour (it was sometime before six is all I remember) we made our way to Itami airport. My first time flying out of Itami, for the win. I find I much prefer small airports. Discovered that security for domestic flights here is a joke. They never once checked our IDs, so any joe shumo with an inkling for a week in Hokkaido could have nabbed them.
We got into Sapporo a little after noon, made our way to our youth hostel for the night (in a sorta staggering little stumble that became the norm whenever we were fully weighed down with our luggage. I'm pretty sure I lost like ten pounds on this trip, I swear) and passed out for a few hours cause um, yeah. See the above mentioned up-before-6-A.M. thing.
Though we soon discovered that while Hokkaido is definitely much cooler than Kyoto, it's still bloody hot when, in a rather New England fashion, no one believes in air conditioners. Unlike New England, however, no one believes in fans either. So um, yeah, sleeping at night was a bit unpleasant, especially for me. (Let's just say, for those who don't know me well in person, my college friends nicknamed my room the meat locker. )
That evening we adventured out into Sapporo, saw an old clock tower thing with a clock from Boston (GO BOSTON, oh yeah) and the more modern TV tower, which, like most of the towers in Japan, closely resembles the Eiffel Tower. How about just a touch of creativity, hmm Japan? No? Well, alright then.
And then we did the unthinkable. We went to bed before midnight! And, incredulous as it may seem, this is a trend that continued for the WHOLE TRIP! Some nights, lights were out as early as ELEVEN! Once, by ten thirty. I know, I'm as shocked and appalled as you. Or, er, something. Seriously though, prior to this trip, I could count on one hand the times I'd been to bed before midnight in the last eight years!
Aaannd, moving on. Next morning, we again arose bright and something akin to early to make the train for Mashu, seeing as the trip took nearly six hours all together. Mash and Mash-ko ('ko' meaning 'lake') are located in Akan National Park, which is on the eastern side of Hokkaido, Sapporo being located more in the South Western tip.
The first train we took was an express, got us most of the way. But the second one was this itty bitty, single car affair, with ordinary router fans attached to the ceiling rather than air-conditioning. And for the majority of the trip, not a building, not a sign of civilization in sight. So very rustic and so VERY much what I've been craving after almost two years of city life. I adore Kyoto, don't get me wrong. But I think at heart, I'll always be a country girl. What can I say, I like stars, and GRASS. Grass is a GOOD thing, one that I miss ever so much, especially in the summers. I've always felt shoes are a necessary evil that can and should be joyfully tossed aside at every opportunity. Which, in short, meant I used to spend most summers as a kid with permanently grass-stained feet. I miiissss that.
Aaaanyway, arrived in Mashu-ko a little before dinner time and decided to go adventuring. Buses, however, had already stopped running the 6 km distance up to the lake, and while we had plans to see it the next day, we decided to be adventurous and hitch hike up that evening as well. My first time hitchhiking, and while it was just a short little jaunt, was still very fun and the people who drove us both ways were very nice.
Here's us at the lake:
That night, with nothing much to do, we tuned in for a bit of wacky Japanese TV, which included this amusing game show-esque thing. With baby animals and celebrities and oh yeah, have I ever mentioned before how much total CRACK Japanese TV is ON?! Cause, just yeah. It'd been some time since I'd watched it with commercials included and really, I should do so more often, cause they're totally half the fun right there. Also did a bit of out loud Jeeves and Wooster reading because those books are made for it like WHOAH.
Next day, we returned to Mashu-ko, though there was no where to stash our bags (oh, where be the omnipresent coin lockers to which have become synonymous with Japan in my mind?!) so our hike got cut a bit short after we quickly tired of lugging them around. While waiting for the bus that would take us from there to Akan-ko, we did talk with several very nice tourists, including a Japanese family up from Tokyo with the most adorable dog named Hana. Japanese, just like everyone else, get all stranger-friendly when traveling. Made for a nice change from the more usual make-no-eye-contact-I'm-in-my-own-little-world-yes-that-does-inlude-when-you-say-'excuse me'-and-are-trying-to-get-past-but-I'll-just-go-right-on-ignoring-you hustle and bustle of Kyoto.
The bus ride to Akan was about an hour long and wound through the mountains and was just absolutely spectacular. Though I think the few other passengers on the bus determined I was a bit of a loon as I bounced back and forth from one side to the other, surreptitiously sliding windows open so I could sneak pictures here and there. Totally worth it.
Upon arriving in Akan, we made our way a bit timorously to the minshuku where we were (hopefully) staying, praying that the reservation for this place had, in fact gone through, seeing as it was the only one with NO online booking, and had been sorta lacking in the English department and thus I had made the reservation by phone. Entirely in Japanese. And, um…was a bit nervous as to whether they were just going to stare at us blankly, in that way that they do. Thankfully, in the end, they did not cause I got teh mad l33t Japanese skillz, yeah? Or, err, something.
And um, WOW has this already gotten ridonculously long so, yeah, what say we break it up and have the second half of the trip on another day? For now, I'll leave you with a pic of Akan-ko:
Or, if you'd rather skip the accounting and just see some pics, I put around sixty or so up in an album here, along with quick caption descriptions for most of 'em. So, mom, who's the good child NOW, huh, huh?! ^_-
So, if you're interested:
So, after arising at some ungodly hour (it was sometime before six is all I remember) we made our way to Itami airport. My first time flying out of Itami, for the win. I find I much prefer small airports. Discovered that security for domestic flights here is a joke. They never once checked our IDs, so any joe shumo with an inkling for a week in Hokkaido could have nabbed them.
We got into Sapporo a little after noon, made our way to our youth hostel for the night (in a sorta staggering little stumble that became the norm whenever we were fully weighed down with our luggage. I'm pretty sure I lost like ten pounds on this trip, I swear) and passed out for a few hours cause um, yeah. See the above mentioned up-before-6-A.M. thing.
Though we soon discovered that while Hokkaido is definitely much cooler than Kyoto, it's still bloody hot when, in a rather New England fashion, no one believes in air conditioners. Unlike New England, however, no one believes in fans either. So um, yeah, sleeping at night was a bit unpleasant, especially for me. (Let's just say, for those who don't know me well in person, my college friends nicknamed my room the meat locker. )
That evening we adventured out into Sapporo, saw an old clock tower thing with a clock from Boston (GO BOSTON, oh yeah) and the more modern TV tower, which, like most of the towers in Japan, closely resembles the Eiffel Tower. How about just a touch of creativity, hmm Japan? No? Well, alright then.
And then we did the unthinkable. We went to bed before midnight! And, incredulous as it may seem, this is a trend that continued for the WHOLE TRIP! Some nights, lights were out as early as ELEVEN! Once, by ten thirty. I know, I'm as shocked and appalled as you. Or, er, something. Seriously though, prior to this trip, I could count on one hand the times I'd been to bed before midnight in the last eight years!
Aaannd, moving on. Next morning, we again arose bright and something akin to early to make the train for Mashu, seeing as the trip took nearly six hours all together. Mash and Mash-ko ('ko' meaning 'lake') are located in Akan National Park, which is on the eastern side of Hokkaido, Sapporo being located more in the South Western tip.
The first train we took was an express, got us most of the way. But the second one was this itty bitty, single car affair, with ordinary router fans attached to the ceiling rather than air-conditioning. And for the majority of the trip, not a building, not a sign of civilization in sight. So very rustic and so VERY much what I've been craving after almost two years of city life. I adore Kyoto, don't get me wrong. But I think at heart, I'll always be a country girl. What can I say, I like stars, and GRASS. Grass is a GOOD thing, one that I miss ever so much, especially in the summers. I've always felt shoes are a necessary evil that can and should be joyfully tossed aside at every opportunity. Which, in short, meant I used to spend most summers as a kid with permanently grass-stained feet. I miiissss that.
Aaaanyway, arrived in Mashu-ko a little before dinner time and decided to go adventuring. Buses, however, had already stopped running the 6 km distance up to the lake, and while we had plans to see it the next day, we decided to be adventurous and hitch hike up that evening as well. My first time hitchhiking, and while it was just a short little jaunt, was still very fun and the people who drove us both ways were very nice.
Here's us at the lake:
That night, with nothing much to do, we tuned in for a bit of wacky Japanese TV, which included this amusing game show-esque thing. With baby animals and celebrities and oh yeah, have I ever mentioned before how much total CRACK Japanese TV is ON?! Cause, just yeah. It'd been some time since I'd watched it with commercials included and really, I should do so more often, cause they're totally half the fun right there. Also did a bit of out loud Jeeves and Wooster reading because those books are made for it like WHOAH.
Next day, we returned to Mashu-ko, though there was no where to stash our bags (oh, where be the omnipresent coin lockers to which have become synonymous with Japan in my mind?!) so our hike got cut a bit short after we quickly tired of lugging them around. While waiting for the bus that would take us from there to Akan-ko, we did talk with several very nice tourists, including a Japanese family up from Tokyo with the most adorable dog named Hana. Japanese, just like everyone else, get all stranger-friendly when traveling. Made for a nice change from the more usual make-no-eye-contact-I'm-in-my-own-little-world-yes-that-does-inlude-when-you-say-'excuse me'-and-are-trying-to-get-past-but-I'll-just-go-right-on-ignoring-you hustle and bustle of Kyoto.
The bus ride to Akan was about an hour long and wound through the mountains and was just absolutely spectacular. Though I think the few other passengers on the bus determined I was a bit of a loon as I bounced back and forth from one side to the other, surreptitiously sliding windows open so I could sneak pictures here and there. Totally worth it.
Upon arriving in Akan, we made our way a bit timorously to the minshuku where we were (hopefully) staying, praying that the reservation for this place had, in fact gone through, seeing as it was the only one with NO online booking, and had been sorta lacking in the English department and thus I had made the reservation by phone. Entirely in Japanese. And, um…was a bit nervous as to whether they were just going to stare at us blankly, in that way that they do. Thankfully, in the end, they did not cause I got teh mad l33t Japanese skillz, yeah? Or, err, something.
And um, WOW has this already gotten ridonculously long so, yeah, what say we break it up and have the second half of the trip on another day? For now, I'll leave you with a pic of Akan-ko:
Or, if you'd rather skip the accounting and just see some pics, I put around sixty or so up in an album here, along with quick caption descriptions for most of 'em. So, mom, who's the good child NOW, huh, huh?! ^_-
