Blogs from Abashiri, Hokkaido, Japan, Asia

The road out of Highashimokoto continued in the same hilly prevalence from where it had left off yesterday. Yet the rise and fall of the landscape would today be the least of my concerns. As a far more brutally sinister enemy raged from the east, an enemy cruel and merciless, and an enemy that on this day would take no prisoners. That enemy being the wind, the unrelenting, soul destroying wind that over the coming hours would completely dismantle any progress in the direction of Shiretoko National Park. In some 4 hours I managed a pathetically meagre 20 miles, I was very much getting my arse kicked. I needed to conjure up a new strategy. Finding a desolate and sheltered wooden shack of a bus stop to the side of the road I would pitch a ... read more

Today I made my way back to civilisation. Don't get me wrong, I like Abashiri. It's a nice quiet little place, I don't think it's classified as a town but then there are many smaller towns in England so maybe it is. After checking out of the hotel (Hokuten no Oka if anybody is interested, about 10 minutes drive from the station - the hotel can pick you up from the station if you let them know), and bid a very long farewell with the only English speaking staff there (Miura Yuuko-San, one of the loveliest person I have met this trip), the hotel shuttle bus dropped me back at the station. My train was at 1329, so I have some time to kill. I stuffed my suitcase in one of those infamous coin lockers, which ... read more

Yesterday after I posted my entry, I actually went out and ventured into the snow. There was a snow storm earlier during the day whilst I was travelling from the airport to the hotel. Why knew? I fell into a deep sleep when I was on the bus. It was and hour and a half. So when I ventured about last night, I went to find food. Of course I went to one of the oldest and most popular restaurant - a restaurant based on sumo wrestler meals. It's basically Japanese style fondue (hotpot) with lots of vegetables and meat. I chose seafood. The spider crab legs were amazing. And so was everything else. And I had sashimi with it, of course. I finished the meal with a strawberry Marion Crêpe for dessert. As usual. They ... read more

Day 9 Abashiri My it is hot here in Abashiri Town and with the fan on low to keep the noise down we slept badly and at 5.30 I got up to try the Notebook on WiFi before anyone else was on but still it would not work. This means doing this blog on my phone and no photos yet. Most of us chose an educational morning with a visit to the Museum of the People's of the North. This traced many of the Inuits that survived in the North such as Alaska, Russia, Norway etc. It was a very interesting visit tracing their customs, way of life, their food sources, the clothing they made and the tools and equipment produced from available materials such as bone and wood. One interesting fact was their use of ... read more

sonntag, 12.10.08 am freitag ist es dann soweit - nach einem kurze check der preise bei den diversen autovermietstationen in abashiri wählen adam und ich die naheliegenste - gleich vor dem bahnhof und unserem hotel. wir erklären also mit händen, füssen und geräuschen, was wir wollen und unterzeichnen schliesslich den japanischen vertrag - eigentlich haben wir keine ahnung, ob wir gerade unsere seele verkauft haben... aber wir kriegen einen handlichen, allerdings spiegelverkehrten weissen honda - einen automaten (juhui) mit eingebautem gps (juhui), dieses allerdings ausschliesslich in japanisch (???) - aber es ist erstaunlich, was zwei technisch begabte menschen, adam hat sechs jahre für die israelische armee programmiert, innert doch nützlicher frist erreichen können! :-) zum schluss konnten wir das ding inklusive navigation sogar wirklich benutzen, waren allerdings auf die... read more