Kitaguchi Hotel Kitami

Just got home after 3 days in Hokkaido.
I arrived in Sapporo on Wednesday night and had a nice dinner with my host family whom I stayed with in 2002. It was nice to catch up. My host mum was funny because I think she overestimated my comprehension of Japanese and just rambled on and on with a cute little smile. At first I asked and repeated when I didn't understand her, but later on I gave up and just nodded, pretending to understand ...

... stray thoughts. But walking is mindless and my head doesn't stop, so you're replaying all the weird things you come across, the opportunities you didn't take, the failures you could've prevented (lab included). And I was pretty down; maybe the most depressed I've been on this trip so far; I incipient snow wasn't helping.

But it got better once I got back to the hostel and spend a glorious hour in the outdoor bath (rotemburo) which is from a volcanic spring. The ...

Abashiri is famous for having the harshest prison in the country. I think the old version of it was but the current buildings are much better. I visited the prison museum which has removed the old buildings and reconstructed them in the museum so you can see what conditions were like. It was very interesting even if I did get a little spooked ...

... with traditional music groups, taiko drummers and the favourite 'belly button' dancers. Our first friend in Furano, Noriko, brought her nice friends Hiro, Kenji and Shoko, who were kind enough to speak English with us all night and introduce us to a little local cuisine: Japanese curry. Seriously yum! We felt very lucky to spend the night with these awesome Japanese people. We really enjoyed our time in Furano. It was great in all aspects.

... hike near the hostel. We expected a cake-walk, but the trail climbed more than we thought and the with the fresh rain forest growth around us we got quite wet again. Once again, it was a delight to to get back for a good hot soak. Our destination today is an onsen resort located on the shore of Lake Toya in southern Hokkaido. Toya-ko is very popular, so we are expecting the full-on Japanese tourist experience.

Leaving Shiratoko, we drove over the mountains toward Rasu on the opposite side of the peninsula. The drive across offers fabulous views across the mountains to the Kuril Islands over which Japan and Russia have been squabbling since World War II. After a longish drive along the coast we turned inland, making our way through farmland with a backdrop of forested volcanic peaks to Mashu-ko Youth Hostel near Lake Mashu, one of two volcano caldera lakes that form Akan National Park ...

... your way to anywhere that has a phone number or code that appears on a map by following the directional prompts on the screen. When we hear the ever-patient liltingly sweet female voice of the GPS, we know we have to pay attention. Aside from the adjustment to left side of the road driving, motoring in Hokkaido is a breeze. They seem to have gone out of their way to make it easy for English ...

... apagado. No quiero pagar 60 euros en el hotel que se ve abierto. Me paso media hora buscando entre tinieblas una pension (nada facil, con los letreros todos en japones) Y lo consigo. Una viejecita, como mi abuela, me abre la puerta de su ryokan, casa de viajeros, y me aloja en uno de los cuartos a tal efecto, en su casa. Es lo mas barato que se encuentra aqui. 26 euros. Comodo, duermo con edredones tirado en un futon sobre el suelo. Como en las yurtas en ...

... other skiing paraphanalia) by a man operating the sole ski shop at the bottom of the slopes. This, it seems, is the story of skiing Japanese style: there's snow in abundance, but when it comes to resort development, they're not really anywhere near the Europeans. No vibrating tables in Moooservert style, no rond-point, and certainly no Chalet de Pierre - apres ski ...

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