26 - 30 August 2004
Last Updated:20/11/04
Next stop: Sapporo, where we hired a car and zoomed off into the distance, with the aid of the Navi system (a very funky, high tec on-board GPS device which by some miracle I got working although all the menus were in Japanese).
We explored Sapporo, Noboribetsu, Lake Toya, and a few other places besides. We were very busy the whole time; but had some great experiences; including Mum's First (and second...and third...) onsen; being challenged to a game of ping pong (and Mum thrashing all her opponents hands down); going up an active volcano; getting drunk (what else is new); visiting the Beer Garden and doing nomi-tabe-hodai (all you can eat at drink) of lamb, vegies and beer (yes, got Mum off the white wine!); did a whistle-stop tour of the Sapporo chocolate factory; had a beautiful traditional crab-meal served to our room at an onsen resortl; went to an Ainu museum and village (Ainu, pronounced "eye-nu" are the Japanese aboriginals); and many other things besides...
BACK TO FUKUI
ON TO KANSAI AIRPORT
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Breakfast at Komatsu airport
A set of doorstep white toast - about the only kind you can get in Japan - salad and a drink |
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Look what Mum's found... She certainly looks happy!!!
incidentally, that's a real glass bottle |
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nomi-tabe hodai - called a "Genghis Khan Set"
Covered in bibs, and with all our possessions secured in plastic bags, we cooked the vegetables and lamb at the table... ...and
drank the famous Sapporo beer! |
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At the Historical Village... Mum - proving she really does eat ice cream, even if she says she doesn't!
The hat worked well - it's an anti-mosquito hat (don't ask!) |
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At the Ainu Village. Look closely. That's me standing by the statue. (I'm 167cm tall on a good day - just under 5ft 6) |
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Mum, between two Ainu women |
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As well as sampling all the onsens on offer (there were 35 different types in total - half for the men, half for the women), we also had a fabulous crab meal served to our Japanese-style room... Every dish, whether raw or cooked, contained some form of crab. It really was a beautiful meal - complimenting all the senses!
All the food, laid out ready! Mum wonders where to begin!
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Once the meal was finished and we'd been served and eaten our home-made green-tea ice cream, the plates were cleared away, the table pushed to one side, and our futon laid out for us.
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Showing the weather really is different in Hokkaido - Mum adds a woollen jacket to her yukata outfit.
We headed off to the onsen after dinner, then went out on the town, bought a bottle of ume-shu (plum wine), and carried on drinking until the early hours. Again. |
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A map of the onsen
floor of the hotel. |
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Hell Vally, Noboribetsu, five minutes walk away from the hotel. This is the source of the hot water for the onsen at the nearby resorts.
This place really smelled bad! Very impressive, though.
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Mum and I at the Chocolate Factory in Sapporo |
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Mum, befriending Abraham Lincoln! |
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(a loud scream was emitted when a hand was inserted in the mouth)
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