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| HOKKAIDO |
| I have delayed going to Hokkaido because I wanted to backpack and need some planning. There are altogether 3 national parks. I ask Guan Sim to join me and we set of in end mar 2002. Although it is off peak, (the snow was beginning to melt and the spring is not here yet) we have the advantage of crowd free accomodation, full attention of hotel staff, good price, and the quiet peaceful atmosphere. I chose Kawayu Onsen instead of the usual Lake Akan. I love the small hotel with great food and nice people and we could not believe the price includes dinner which was a huge spread and so we start to pose and take photos. We even stop to sleep for 15mins before resuming our food. I was hoping to see snow and lucky Kawayu is still surrounded by it. This place has lighten me up after my earlier disappointment at Abashiri where I did not manage to see the ice floes which has floated away. |
| This is mount Io. It is the closest I get to a Volcano seeing the sulphur. Given only 20mins by the drivers, we quickly take pictures of the steam seeping through the floor. Underneath, the water runs down to our hotel at Kawayu where we had our first onsen experience. |
| We were at Mt Tentozan, where we visited the ice floes museum since we miss the real one. Bus is infrequent and so we approach a couple to hitch hike down in order to have sufficient time to check out to catch our train. |
| Mashu-ko. The scenery was beautiful. Wish we had more time. |
| Most of the people in Hokkaido drive and so public transport, due to low demand, was few and expensive. Looking at the limited schedule, we work around the bus timing so as to see as many sights as possible. We took the "Akan tourist bus" which brings us to Kussharo-ko, Mt Io, Mashu-ko and finally Akan-ko. But we will not be able to see Akan-ko as the bus ends there and no transport available to return to Kawayu Onsen. Instead, we alight at a bus station after Mashu-ko to catch a local bus back to hotel. |
| Kawayu |
| Lake Kussharo |
| Mount Io |
| Mount Tentozan |
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| We went to the second national park ie Daisetsuzan as well as the third national park Shikotsu Toya National Park |
| After Hokkaido, we journey down to Tohoku, visit Kakunodate, an ex-Samurai town, Sendai, Matsushima, then head for Nagoya to Takayama and Tsumago. |
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