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Today we will depart from the south western tip of Hokkaido and travel back up to the central area (back towards the direction of Chitose).
The journey would be long and arduous as we would have visited most of the places on the itinery when we drove down south. So feeling adventurous and willing to take a few detours here and there, we asked our group mates for new places to have our lunch and visit.
We totally skipped the Kelp (Konbu) Museum and proceeded straight to Onuma Quasi National Park. (another site) This is a park that is centered around lake Onuma and is actually a marsh land and yes … Onuma Prince hotel (the hotel we stayed in night 2) is located at the other side of the lake… so that actually gives you an idea how big this lake or marsh land is. Unfortunately on that morning, there was some Marathon event and the recommended car park in our itinerary was not accessible. in the end we paid 500 yen for the parking after going round the vicinity.
I would have expected much more from the national park … but I guess that morning , the sky is extremely cloudy and it makes the lake very gloomy. The cold winds did not help either.
The interesting thing about this part of the lake is that it is connected by lots of small islands linked by bridges, forming a pretty picture. But like I said, on that day .. it reminded me more of a marsh land instead.
We did not stay there for long and drove off for lunch at a crab market (kani ichiban) hopefully to lift our spirits there. This place was recommended by one of our team mates.. they were very helpful. They gave us the map codes even recommended one of the restaurants there. Luckily the place was not that far out of the way and we located the area easily. The whole place was beautifully decorated by rows of colorful tulips as well but the flowers are not in full bloom yet. The car park was huge and I guess this must be a tourist hot spot and the car park was to cater to bus loads of tourist hungry for crab meat.
Anyway lunch there was good! The unagi (eel) bento was delicious and not to mention the salmon roe! wonderful! I have not tasted such fresh salmon roe in Singapore … ha ha …
While we were enjoying our lunch, we received an SMS from yet another team mate informing us that a certain park’s cherry trees are in full bloom. We got the map codes, pin point the location on our GPS and we were on our way after lunch… I felt so blessed to have such kind and adventurous team mates during this trip. I guess this is also what makes the trip very different from others and why I enjoyed it so much.
The park is called Sobetsu park (photos of cherry trees in bloom) and the trees are all cherry trees. I am not sure what variety of cherry trees these are … but definitely differnt from the kind I saw earlier.
After the park, we made our way to a broken town called Nishiyama town (sorry guys cannot find any webby on this town only some pictures). What is interesting is about this town is that the town was devastated by earthquake and volcano eruptions some time around March 2000. The entire devastated town was then preserved as a tourist spot letting people witness the raw power of the quake then. We can even see thick smoke of sulphur escaping from the fissures by the side of the road. All in all, the site is not pretty but educational. It is not pretty because I keep thinking how many people had died here during that very eruption and earth quake… mobid yes… but I cannot help it.
After the depressing scene you would have tot we had lost all our appetite… but wrong you are. Nothing comes between me and my ice cream. Especially ice cream from Lake Hill Farm. (sorry guys .. no English version). It is a small stall by the side of the road selling many variety of yogurt and Ice cream. to be able to survive in such a ulu place selling only yogurt and ice cream their ice cream and yogurt must be very nice indeed and after tasting them … I know why .. for it is totally yummy !! The scenery is great too, with a mountain as a back drop. ( I sort of suspect that mountain is Mount Showa… but never got the chance to confirm).
After a wonderful feast of (cheese and milk flavored) ice cream and (banana) yogurt, we drove towards the mountain, towards our resort for the night Rusutsu N & S hotel. This resort is extremely huge. with a north wing, south wing and a tower all located at different places. This is also the only resort that I forfeited the chance for a hot bath as the facility is located too far away from my room. This resort is a ski resort and functions as an amusement park and a golf club all rolled into one. Very impressive indeed with an indoor merry go round and an indoor music fountain!
We are also spoilt for choice when it comes to dinner. In the end we decide to go for the French fine dining again .. 🙂 and the standard is just as good, if not better.
The rest of my photos for Day 4.
We work up early to get a good soak at the public hotbath at the hotel. Their hotspring pools are not as extensive as the Mahoroba Hotel as they are not a hot spring resort but the effect is just as relaxing. The breakfast is standard fair with all the items you would expect from a typical buffet spread, a far cry from the wonderful dinner we had last night.
We were told not to eat too much food during breakfast as our first stop for the day is Hakodate Morning market. (another site) The market place is a combination of many stalls selling all kinds stuff from fresh food (fruits, crabs, scallops, dried cuttlefish, ice cream) to flowers etc. The stalls normally open from from 5am to noon and it is as much a tourist hot spot as a market to the locals. Hack! we even saw students being attached to the stalls as apprentices. The food stuff looks really fresh, especially the sea food! We even saw crabs crawling on the floor and the hawkers / stall owners catching live scallops and barbecuing them in front of us. Although I am already full from the hotel breakfast, I still managed to buy a slice of melon to taste. It is super sweet and refreshing! Nothing like the honey dew you see / taste in your supermarket. The price is also extraordinary as well … (1 full melon for 8,000 to 10,000 yen and 1 slice for 200 yen.)
After the morning feast of dried cuttlefish, melon, bbq scallop and ice cream, we made our way to Matsumae Castle. The journey took the better half of the later morning. It is a good 100 km away from the market and we drove along the coast line all the way down south west. Luckily the monotonous journey was broken by a group of hawkers who gathered around a vacant spot of land selling some food stuff and tuilps. The whole open area was decorated like a carnival and of course, thanks to global warming, the tuips had bloomed early too!
Finally we reached the castle. I must say the castle is really out of the way. And the drive there and back is via the same route. Thus we were really seriously considering if the trip would be worth it or should we just go to Goryokaku park which we missed yesterday. Luckily we were not disappointed for within the castle compound, is a very very very big patch of Sakura garden. To cover the whole garden would take us 4.5 to 5 km by foot and 2 to 4 hours. In the end we wandered around the garden, taking photos again (what is new right?) and totally missed the castle interior. After all we have been to the Osaka castle .. and well the castles in Japan are largely similar… at least to me.
By the time we leave the castle to Hakodate town, (another site) it was already close to 2 in the afternoon. Driving back the same route does seem a bit boring but well … that is the only route to and fro the castle. Hakodate town is a beautiful harbor town (especially around the bay area), complete with wharfs, go downs, warehouses and seagulls but minus the smell.
We had fun visiting the various famous red warehouses which were converted into shop houses and shopping arcade (where we spent the majority of our time). We walked the Motomachi slope and even saw a couple taking their bridal photos along the slope.
As suual, before we knew it, dusk had come and it is time to head back to our hotel (Hanabishi) to enjoy a sumptuous Japanese set dinner.
Unfortunately we do not have the timeto visit the hot bath before dinner and will have to visit it only after our night trip back from mount Hakodate. This is the only exception where we drove at night but even then, we dare not drive up to the mountant top. For people who are more daring, they open the road up to the mountain top after 10pm. For us, we drove to the rope way station (parking is FOC) and took the rope way up. And be warned… the gale up there is strong and chilly. I almost got frost bite up there holding on to my tripod. BUt I felt it is all worth it. The night view is simply magnificant. (My camera cannot capture even half of it I swear). After which we headed back to the bay area to take some more photos. By then the stalls had closed (they do close rather early… around 6pm) but luckily the neon lights are still on and the red brick warehouse against the bay view just makes the place very romantic and fairy tale like… a must go for couples!
As usual, the rest of my pics can be found here.
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