Phenomenal Globe blog helped us a lot with planning this part of our trip but we soon found out that getting around Hokkaido in winter is not easy. The roads are well maintained despite the heavy snow but there is little info with regards to what roads are open as many are closed during the winter months. The tourist offices were our saviours as they had the local area info that Google lacked. We decided to rent via ToCoo and hired a little compact 4WD car with snow tyres for a day and a half. Our route; Lake Shikotsu - Noboribetsu - Lake Toya - Sapporo. 7/11 breakfasts and lunches have kept us on budget these past few days - amazing selections and all so fresh and tasty. Not to mention fuelling our growing addiction to Galbos (little choccy biscuity delights). The attention to detail everywhere we go, even down to the way things are folded is amazing - the way people greet you, bowing down over and over to welcome you is very sweet but you automatically find yourself doing it in return so end up looking a little like Manuel in Faulty Towers (peace be with him). Noboribetsu
Hotel Izumi - a cross between the Grand Budapest Hotel (a great Wes Anderson film) and an old people's home. There was even a blood pressure monitor in the lobby! I made a serious faux pas on entering and didn't take my shoes off, I just rolled in, humongous bag in tow and stamped all over their pristine tatami mats before being shooed off. Japan fail. But the view from our room - beautiful. We may have been upgraded due to being on our ‘honeymoon’. Amazing outdoor onsen- natural hot spring water heated by volcanoes. Like spa towns in the UK but hot and they make such a thing out of them. There are a few rules when it comes to using an onsen: Most are segregated into male and female. No bathing suits, birthday suits only. You must wash thoroughly at the little seated shower station before you enter the bath, don’t splash others and wash your area down after. If you take your towel in with you, don't let it fall into the onsen water, either find a dry spot or fold it and place on your head like the locals do! I didn't do this as it makes you look silly. Jigokudani, aka hell valley, was really something and the walk up and around Oyunuma Pond was very romantic despite the shouty crowds of Chinese tourists. Lake Kuttara is supposed to be a stunning caldera lake and another must see, but it was inaccessible due to winter road closures. Annoying. Lake Toya The ropeway (cable car) was closed for maintenance (super annoying) so it was back to the tourist office we went where a friendly chap gave us an awesome tip. He told us to sack off the observation point and instead drive up to the Windsor Hotel on top of a mountain, and wow, he was so right, the views of the sea and the lake on either side of the cruise ship shaped mega-hotel were spectacular. We were a little naughty and pretended like we were staying there and skipped through reception to get to their garden area where the views just got better! Quick stop at a local dairy farm shop for some Hokkaido ice cream and we began our route (the scenic way) back to Chitose. Sad to say goodbye to Hugo (our car, named by me). The UK needs some lessons from the Japanese on customer service, everyone takes such pride in their jobs. At the petrol station, we were escorted in, whilst one uniformed gent filled us up, another was making polite small talk whilst the other cleaned our number plates then all three stood in a row to wave us out! Comments are closed.
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AuthorsRob & Charlie's travelling adventures on their long journey back to London after living in Hong Kong. Four continents, twelve countries, lots of experiences. Archives
July 2017
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Robert Ware & Charlotte Nunn |