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Published: September 10th 2007
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Farm Tomita
Vestiges of the typhoon that rocked Tokyo. After spending four nights in Sapporo at two different hostels, we rented a car and made our way to the first leg of our Hokkaido tour: central Hokkaido.
driving is an adventure in itself. We are not used to driving on the left side of the road, and most of the signs are in Kanji. We are thrilled about our GPS however, as it speaks with an english voice. It's funny though because the text and all of the streets on the GPS are Kanji so we have no idea if we're going in the right direction! Every time the computer lady tells us to turn left, we turn left and so far she has not led us astray. We enter destinations via their phone number, so if we have a destination without a phone number it is a lot more challenging. The GPS also is a dvd player and high definition satellite tv (don't worry mom it turns off while you're driving) - too funny. our car is a little red hatchback Suzuki Swift.
Our first stop was Furano. We decided to stay in a Ryokan since we had spent too many nights in gender segregated hostels! The
Farm Tomita
A beautiful farm with meticulously planted flowers in organized rows. Beautiful up close and from a distance. Ryokan was nice. Right in the heart of the town of Furano and run by an old lady and her three cats. Tatami mats and futons added to the traditional feel of this Ryokan. It also had a Japanese bath but now that we knew what to do, no problem!
The sights of Furano included Farm Tomita which is a farm that has row upon row of coloured flowers planted each year. The rows form patterns that are very beautiful. Laid out before you it looks like a rainbow. To Michelle's dismay we are a few weeks too late for lavender season, but they still sell lavender ice cream! It was very beautiful and delicious!
That night the Typhoon that rocked the main island of Honshu a few days earlier hit Hokkaido. It was much gentler than what had hit Honshu, but it still meant a rain storm and bad weather for the next few days. We bought some food at the grocery store and made dinner in our room, and did the same for breakfast, watching some strange Japanese tv shows!? We drove to Fukiage Onsen which was our first Onsen experience. An Onsen is a natural
Farm Tomita
It must be a lot of work to maintain these rows. mineral hot spring. Most Onsen are gender segregated, but we found one that was not so we could enjoy it together. It had a slide and each of the pools was a different temperature ranging from very hot to just warm.
Driving home along the isolated mountain road we spotted a fox, and had time to slow down and take a few pictures of it before it ran off into the woods. It kind of made our day seeing it in such a beautiful area.
From there we continued on to one of the National Parks: Daisetsuzan National Park. It is mountainous and beautiful. We entered near the town of Biei which reminded both of us a little of Tuscany with its rolling hills and foliage. Biei is famous for several unique looking trees. We drove around and saw them all, but didn't take any pictures because each one had a busload of tourists at the base of it!
That night for dinner we arranged for the hostess of the Ryokan to cook dinner for us. It was a feast to say the least. We were so thankful that Yoko and Daisuke taught us a little of
Farm Tomita
Michelle enjoying some lavender ice cream. Delicious! traditional Japanese cuisine a few nights earlier. The meal was fantastic. The hostess did not speak one word of english so the phrasebook came in handy again!
The next day we checked out of the Ryokan and headed to Asahikawa, where we had booked a very reasonably priced hotel. The room includes breakfast and dinner, and only costs 1000 yen (about ten Canadian dollars) more than what it cost for two of us to stay at the Ryokan.
On our way to Asahikawa we stopped at the Asahidake ropeway which is a cable car that leads up to Hokkaido's tallest peak - Asahidake (2290 m). At the top of the ropeway there was a 2 km loop that we walked. The autumn coloured leaves have started to come out which made it extra beautiful! The views from the top were stunning and kept getting better with each turn. The mountain is also an active volcano - but it hasn't erupted for a quite a few years now. There are some areas where you see smoke coming out of the mountain - it's actually volcanic steam. The clouds began to part a bit so we had some blue skies
Sumire Ryokan
Our first Ryokan experience. Nice, funny old lady and her 3 cats made it feel like staying at Grandma's house. This is in the heart of the town of Furano. and sunshine which made it all the more beautiful.
We took the ropeway down to enjoy one of the onsen in the area. These hot springs were nice because they were in a natural setting. We went to a really cool place called Lodge Nutapukaushipe to enjoy the onsen. These onsen were much hotter than the ones we experienced the day before - but really pretty and relaxing.
We left the area and headed to Asahikawa - the 2nd biggest city in Hokkaido. We will be here for 2 nights before we head to the east coast - we will be visiting the easternmost point in Japan!
until next time - hope everyone is well
michelle and travis
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Lianne
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Farm question
Re the flower farm, do the flowers get harvested or something or are they just there for tourists etc.? Sooooooo pretty! I can't believe it!! Love the comments on your pics too! Miss you guys!