Hakodate, Hokkaido, Japan
Monday, September 6, 2010
Actually, before Hokkaido -- a night in
Osaka then a night in
Morioka, each followed by a day of big train journeying. In Osaka of note was that, unlike every other Japanese city I've visited, people riding escalators pass on the left -- elsewhere the convention is stand left, pass right. Curious, I wonder why. Morioka was purely a way-point en route to
Hakodate but turned out to be a really nice city -- on a snaking river amongst big, rolling hills. People there were friendly and laid back. I jogged along the river in the evening and was cheered on by an elderly man out for a walk, so sweet :) And at the inn I stayed at there was the best-groomed little pekinese dog you can imagine named Konta (not sure if I'm spelling or even getting the phonetics right) who liked to splay himself flat as a pancake at the front door and chew on his stuffed toy. The inn owner taught me how to say 'cute' (kowaii ...?) so I could describe him. Arriving in
Hakodate I was psyched that it was drizzly, overcast and breezy -- and at least 6 degrees cooler than anywhere non-mountainous I'd been on Honshu. Ah, respite :) First impressions of Hakodate were a mix of San Francisco,
Seattle and maybe Halifax! Lots of fishing and ocean-focused activity -- some very built-up shipping areas, a big crab and squid 'morning market', touristy wharves with red brick warehouses, old weather-worn fishing boats beached at small sandy spots along the coast, kelp drying on pebbled areas in front of small wooden beach houses ... oh, and trolley cars and hills :) First night there I went up the cable car to the top of Mount
Hakodate (at the end of this spit / peninsula area that's the main part of the city) and watched the clouds, fog and sunset ... really nice. Following day I took a quick train ride out to Lake Onuma, which I'd imagined as a rugged hiking area centered around a lake and a volcano -- mainly because that's what I'd read. It was much more touristy than that. I ended up renting a bike with what looked like an emblem of Smoky the Bear on the basket (giving an accurate sense of how rugged this adventure would be) and riding around the lake ... which was very pretty and had some great views of the volcano. I totally failed to find the hiking trail that led up the volcano, so just enjoyed the ride on my tiny bike. At the end of the ride I came across the main touristy park / area on the lake and wasn't sure whether to be horrified or amused ... there were swan-shaped boats for rent and a huge train of adults riding colorful interlinked big-wheels around the paths by the lake. I settled on amused :) For my last full day in
Hakodate I rode a bike out along the coast towards a cape with a lighthouse. I'm not sure if i made it or not -- I got to a lighthouse. But maybe not the right one. Regardless, there were some really pretty views. I was again on a tiny bike and by the end my knees were so sore that I had to stand up to pedal :( Now begin the journey south where in just over 24 hours I'll be on a plane to
Hong Kong!
