Hokkaido – Onuma lake area to Hakodate – (Day 3)

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.