From Kyoto to Osaka to Sapporo by plane
Now I am in Sapporo, on the island of Hokkaido, near Russia and North Korea, famed for its bears, beer and potatoes.
I am writing both updates at once this evening, so chronologically this may not make sense, buy in the interests of symmetry, I must do 2 updates per day, otherwise the apple cart will be upset and I may never recover.
To go to Kansai airport, the airport in the Ocean that is sinking and therefore has another identical one along side it they will move to and then add more rocks to the one that has sunk, you must first go from Kyoto to Osaka on a train. This train then goes to the airport that is nowhere near Osaka, as is the Japanese tradition.
The train ticket was surprisingly cheap, but I almost missed out on cheap. I was going to take a bus that was about $30, but then I saw a deal for foreign passport holders to buy an ICOCA card and a $15 Haruka express train ticket to the airport, for $25. However if you already have an ICOCA card, I have 2, you can just get the $15 ticket. So that was the greatest deal ever.
It is about a 90 minute ride, at first very fast, then it does a lap around Osaka very slowly. Still its faster than the bus and half the price.
Once at Kansai airport, its kind of like 1/2 a new airport day. Because whilst I have been here twice before, I have never flown domestically. It turns out the domestic terminal is awesome, with about 73 restaurants to choose from, or you can have a convenience store $2 sandwich like I did.
My flight today was Jetstar, and about 2 hours, and completely uneventful. Left on time, arrived on time, I got row 2, they accepted my bags, no questions about carry on, just like a regular flight. Except for the lung cancer. My plane was full of lung cancer sufferers. It must have been. Bits of lung were being hacked up all over the place. I thought people might die. But thats just Japanese smokers who cant smoke for a period of time. They need more smoke to soothe their angry cancerous lungs.
Once you arrive in Sapporo, you are of course, nowhere near Sapporo, as is the Japanese tradition of placing airports in other cities. Instead you are in Chitose.
I bought my awesome value East South Hokkaido JR East Tokyo region including non JR lines for select location for use on 6 days of customer choice within a 14 day period pass, and got on the train to Sapporo.
This takes just over 30 minutes, no smoking here either, so lung expulsion continued. Then I just had a 40 minute walk to my hotel in the freezing air dragging my suitcase almost getting run over as I looked at what appears to be an awesome city, more on that shortly.
My regular morning coffee at Starbucks was differnt today in Kyoto, I got a picture and a message. I have no idea what it says, but the cat she drew seems to love me.
The view down into Kyoto station from the top of the Isetan store is as great as ever.
Cloudy and smoggy sky today. I have taken this photo before on a previous trip, its the only place on the roof you can get around the darkly tinted glass to take a decent photo. Japan hates you to enjoy a view.
Time for breakfast. What better breakfast can there be than shrimp filled deep fried patty with creamy potato salad?
This is my limited express grand rapid airport special service Haruka.
Proof that I went through Osaka, the Umeda sky building. See previous trip reports for views from the roof.
Japan preventing me from experiencing the view again by erecting a wall between the train and the ocean on the bridge that goes across to Kansai.
Jetstar check in, no line.
I should have had this for lunch. A lot of vegetables.
One of many restaurant streets in the domestic terminal. I dont understand where all the people were from because there are not that many flights, perhaps people come out to the airport island just to eat at the slightly more expensive restaurants?
I had an hour to kill and steps to get, so I walked into the international check in area. Not very busy here.
My plane, A320, quiet.
There is the bridge back to naturally occurring land masses. Photo timed to capture taking off plane. Note the smog. Maybe Hokkaido has less smog.
Now I am in Hokkaido, new airport! Arrival hall is bland.
And here is my huge hotel room, it is one of 3 APA hotels within 2 blocks of each other. This one is Susukino Ekimae Minami.
Another view of my huge room, theres enough room between my bed and the window that has no view for another bed.
Riding the ferris wheel in Sapporo
The city area of Sapporo is huge.
I am surprised by how huge and colorful it is. Like I said above, I walked the length of it to get to my hotel which is in the true city centre of Susukino.
I dont really know where to start looking and eating, and eating some more and then walking around and looking because everywhere is colored lights and lots and lots of people.
Halloween parties seem to already be going on, with girls dressed like whores with tails and devils trident spears giggling as they fall over in their stupid heels whilst crossing the street.
Salary men in their 50's fill halls of electronic games busy trying to convince the ninja school girl gang to lift their skirts after defeating the evil tortoise creatures.
Covered shopping streets are actually full of people, and restaurants, cooking things I have not seen before, and trying to set me on fire, see below.
I am here in Sapporo for 5 nights, my longest stay in any city on this trip, my hotel room is great and I think I have made the right choice as far as evening activities and things to do by devoting so much time here.
Before heading off into the night I stopped by night temple to wonder why it exists.
Photo number 400! Already! Start of the neon streets.
Impressively lit corner.
More neon, the trees look nice, daylight will reveal if I need to pass out from amazing color shock.
Covered shopping street, look at all the people, wearing coats. Despite it being 3 degrees, I didnt actually feel cold. There was no wind to speak of.
Proof I was in Sapporo.
Dangerous dinner. I am sitting very close to the blow torch action. Multiple times I checked my eyebrows to see if I still had eyebrows.
The picture doesnt do the meal justice, it was very nice, but probably very bad for healthy. It is not curry so much as soup, but it has hamburger, spam, brocoli, carrot, tomato, onions and cheese melted onto the top of it.
Basically its like the hamburger hot plate you get in a lot of places, put in some kind of soup, with cheese on top and then blow torched.
Nightclub. Great name. Not sure where they think the booty is going to come from though. The most booty of anyone nearby belongs to me.
The store in the background is a card trading, hobby, robot model, manga shop. So they have a stage area with seating out the front for all the shows they put on. Nerds.
Dance dance revolution is old hat, its Super DJ Battle now. A crowd has formed to watch these guys ghost fade the decks.
Time to resurrect an old tradition, and go on a ferris wheel, nice view.
They had absolutely zero customers beside me, and the attendents on the roof of the building were asleep at their posts, and then really confused that a middle aged angry white guy wants to ride the ferris wheel on his own.
That lit up corner is still lit up when viewed from the ferris wheel.
Proof I rode the ferris wheel on my own.
Hiking Mount Moiwa in Sapporo
It is cold, and incredibly windy. Things are blowing down the street, I hope the wind stops soon.
Because of the wind, a small mountain was the order of the day, the main tourist mountain in Sapporo is Moiwa, it is not high, but there are still 2 ropeways / cable cars, except due to high wind they arent running.
Not that I would have taken them anyway, not only did I plan to walk up the mountain, I also walked to the mountain from my hotel, and back again.
My plan was to go to the cable car station and surely there would be a path from there to the top. Wrong. I spent well over an hour going up and down and around on paths that did not go to the top. I had to regroup and use google. Turns out I am nowhere near the start of the path.
Around the base of the mountain I trekked, in the ferocious wind. Still there was another false start, I was sure the Tori gate tunnel would go up the mountain, wrong again.
But I was determined, and a little further around I saw a bunch of people in hiking gear, and then it was just over an hour to the top on a great path with excellent views to be had nearly the whole way.
The top was very cold, some of the selfies I took on my phone give me horrific red nostrils, eye sockets, lips and ears. My ears were frozen brittle. Other people had ear muffs.
There was no snow yet, it is forecast, and whilst I was walking to the mountain early this morning there was a very brief flurry. Flurry being the official term for small amount of snow.
I also went without my backpack, and without gloves. Foolish on both counts. Hands became blocks of ice, and I could have used a drink. However not to worry, where theres a ropeway to the top, theres a multi level restaurant, and no fewer than 30 vending machines serving hot and cold beverages.
Everyone, and I do mean everyone as there were lots of people going up and down this path, has bear bells, ringing non stop. Hours later I still have ringing in my frozen ears.
The walk through the city streets to the mountain was over an hour, assuming I went to the path. I turned that into over 2 hours by going to the wrong start point.
Not sure if thats the top or not! Seemed higher when I went around the back later and climbed up the proper path.
No cable car, too windy. Suck it lazy tourists.
The wrong path. It showed promise, but theres no way up from the cable car station, just a number of loops to signs that warn its an environmental protection area and you must stay to the paths.
It may have been the wrong path but it does have a good view.
Annnnnd peak color has been achieved.
One of my wrong paths took me to this. Note theres no view from here, there would be if you were allowed up the steps, but a security rope prevents this.
My theory is theres no one here to collect a fee to allow you to appreciate the view. Buddhists love to collect a fee for everything. Those orange beggars robes dont pay for themselves.
Nice tree.
Link to Hi Resolution 3000x2000 version
I came back down the wrong path via a graveyard. What a view these dead folks have!
My next mistake, I was sure this would be the way. Why else would it be here? Wrong again. Theres a river blocking me from getting to the proper path at the top of here. Back down again....
The torii gates actually take you to here, but like I said, dont keep trying to go up and around it, theres no way!
Finally I am on the right path, with hundreds of people and their ensemble of bear bells.
The path varied between steps, leaves, rocks and mud. There was a lot of mud in places. At the bottom there was a boot cleaning station to remove said mud.
The path up goes past 100 of these stations of stone temple things. I read that theres 100 of them, I didnt count.
And now I am at the summit. Heres the temple. Theres also a 3 storey restaurant, tv towers, bus parking and the ropeway station.
Great views are to be had in all directions from the roof of the restaurant building.
Sapporo below. Seems much bigger than 2.7 million people.
Very little smog.
More Sapporo, and the middle cable car station about 1/3 of the way down, with more car parking. I never saw this on the way up, the walking path goes up a different valley entirely.
Off in the distance is more mountains, further away from Sapporo. The mountain on the right is a ski resort, hence the snow, which I assume has been artificially made. More research required.
Do I look cold? The glare was ridiculous, I couldnt open my eyes for the selfie.
This one turned out better. Patented stance ACTIVATE.
Time to step into the restaurant area and have a can of hot chocolate from the vending machine before running back down.
On the way down a woman ran in front of me, I let her get some distance ahead, and she would slow right down and look back over her shoulder frightened.
I would try to pass her and she would speed up and take dangerous risks. I didnt get it, so I just follower her all the way down.
At the bottom I went to use the boot cleaning station along side her, as there was brushes and buckets for multiple people, and she ran off after cleaning only one of her boots.
For the walk back to my hotel I followed a different tram line. Nice light at this time of day.
And then I arrived at the 'Girls Cafe and Slot' faux rock mountain building.
Now to clean the mud off my pants that got there because I cleaned the mud off my boots with a brush that sprayed wet mud onto my pants.
The underground heated shopping streets of Sapporo
I had some administrative requirements to take care of.
First of all, I needed to book 3 train tickets for the next 3 legs of my journey so that I dont miss out on seats and have to stand or walk back to Tokyo.
First Sapporo to Hakodate, then Hakodate to Sendai, then Sendai to Ueno in Tokyo.
I searched online and wrote down dates, times, departure and arrival station name and number of train and waltzed into the station office with my special east south something something Hokkaido pass and handed the pass and my requested routings to the man who sits behind the purpose built ticket booking touch screen.
20 seconds later he handed me 3 tickets. And in broken English told me that everybody including Japanese speakers should just do what I do, because job make very easy thank you much.
I was thrilled with cheap praise from Mr Ticket man. As I left I spotted a tourist information centre for food and tourist information for Sapporo and surrounds for tourists visiting tourist attractions and related tourist locations including Onsen and Shrines.
Unfortunately, it is near on impossible to find information on local buses in Japan, and I needed information, so in I went.
There were 3 girls in pink nurses uniforms, asleep. I stand at the mark on the floor as instructed by many signs for about a minute whilst they sleep sitting up. Eventually one of them frightens herself awake, and invites me over, she is super excited! 'So happy to give information please sit!'
I started explaining where I want to go, which was met with not possible, wrong season, runs for 3 weeks in summer only. But I had read of another route that goes within 2km of the special 3 week only bus. This took some real explaining using google maps, and before too long all 3 pink nurse uniformed tourist information girls were crowded around my phone in fierce debate.
Eventually a bus timetable was produced, highlighter marks were added, and warnings about walk very far from bus stop were given, as well as last light warnings and walking on the road warnings. So tomorrow we will see if they were helpful or not, weather permitting.
Train ticket offices helpfully provide a selection of magnification glasses so you can read the timetable / ticket.
Here is my bus timetable. It is an A3 sheet of paper that will disintegrate if breathed on. I have taken a high resolution photo for when that happens.
My first ever usage of Tourist Information seems to have worked, in that I at least got a timetable, and also I gave its bored staff something to actually do.
Dinner tonight was a new kind of Omurice. For the uninitiated, its a rice filled omelette. But it usually comes with curry or similar sauce on it. This time I am having it instead of pasta, in cherry tomato and eggplant tomato sauce. It was actually delicious.
The Sapporo station. It is small on top, but trust me, it is huuuuuuge underneath.
The second in my series of what I am calling 'Leaves of the night, so color, so wonder'.
The Sapporo Eifel tower, proudly sponsored by Panasonic.
Now for some shopping tunnels. Sapporo gets really cold in winter. From what I have worked out theres no need to go outside. A quick drawing on google maps reveals there are 3.8km of connected underground tunnels lined with shops and restaurants.
More tunnel. Look at all the people!
There are currently 3 comments - click to add
mother on 2016-10-29 said:
Tunnels very handy when the wind chill factor adds to the lovely cold weather. Wonder if you will get any snow.
David on 2016-10-29 said:
You literally loaded the page in the 10 seconds it takes me to upload the photos.
I am confident as soon as you load it again it will be fine.
adriana on 2016-10-29 said:
All photos except last one are only thumbnails, but can enlarge. Have you found the long underground passage with shops from the main station all the way to the snow festival park yet?
Hiking Mount Soranuma near Sapporo by bus
I thought there might be a bit of snow. Turns out there was endless snow.
I thought it might be cold on top of a mountain, turns out it was absolutely freezing.
I thought my boots would struggle in ice, and I was absolutely right.
Nearby Sapporo are a series of mountains that used to be volcanoes that are now lakes on a plateu area between peaks.
Getting there was hard to work out without the help of the information desk in the main station the night before.
Once I got on the bus, which came at the time my piece of paper suggested, I was concerned that no one else on the bus seemed to be in climbing gear.
Perhaps the 2km walk to the trail head had frightened them all away apart from the 3 weeks of the year the bus goes the two extra stops.
Anyway, its not a long bus ride, and knowing the right stop to get off at is easy, the last one.
4 others got off at this stop, a group of 2 boys and 2 girls perhaps in their early 20's. They had jackets on, but other than that woolen mittens, sneakers, jeans.
One of them asks me if I intend to climb, he speaks great English, yes I intend to climb. He asks if I know the way to the trail. I said I believe its 2km up the road to the quarry and starts from the car park there.
He then asked me if my boots and gloves are ok for climbing, and if I have enough supplies. I said my boots are old but waterproof, gloves are not great, and I have pocari sweat to drink. I was looking at him in his sneakers and jeans. He said they also intend to climb.
So we headed off up the road, and they walked at a snails pace, so I waved goodbye and charged off, should not have done that!
Once at the quarry I had no idea which way to go. There were cars parked there, perhaps quarry workers? I could see a tractor working up a cliff. I settled on the only dirt road which seemed open and without big warning signs and followed that. I assumed the other roads were for quarry machinery. So wrong.
It soon became impassable for cars, with big trees fallen over the road, and then rivers that had washed away the road I needed to get across on slippery fallen logs. There was so much snow! I was enjoying myself.
However after about an hour up this road, which did not seem to be going up, just around, it became very impassable, I turned back, frustrated.
About 3/4 of the way back to the car park, there was a fork in the road, I had previously taken the road that went up rather than the one that seemed to go down, now I took the fork that went down. So very wrong.
I followed this for over an hour in very heavy snow, and saw no one, crossed rivers where the road was washed away, climbed over huge fallen trees, until this became a raging waterfall.
I thought my day was over, I ran back to the car park. 3 hours had elapsed since I got off the bus, so frustrating.
Then I decided to ignore a huge warning sign and barrier... What a stupid sign. This was the entrance to the national park and main trail. Almost immediately I saw people coming down from the mountain and lakes in arctic survival gear with bear bells dinging.
Decision time, I knew what time the last bus was, I knew going down should be faster than going up, I knew there were 2 lakes to see, one before the 'summit' with huts to stay in and one after.
I decided to race the clock and turn back if I thought I would run out of time. I literally ran up whenever I could. It was very tiring, and at times blizzard like conditions, but generally I was not cold.
My shoelaces froze solid, as did the bottom of my pants, and eventually the ends of the fingers on my gloves. Only when I got to the second lake did I realise I was absolutely freezing! Time to head back down for the bus.
Unfortunately, my boots were not up to the task, the other people I saw coming down all had spikes coming out of their boots, so I slid down a lot of the way, gloves on the ice behind me, feet in front, and lowered my now wet ass onto the ice to stop!
When I got back to the lower lake, with the huts around it, there was the group I saw on the bus earlier, they must have been in the hut earlier when I ran past.
They were surprised to see me, I explained how I had been lost, but the funny thing was, they were now all in full on arctic survival gear, huge jackets, goggles, hats, hiking poles, big rubber boots, knee pads, and they had a guide with them!
It seems they met a guide at the quarry car park and were staying in the hut over night. I assume the guide provided all the gear.
Getting down was much slower than I thought it would be due to the ice and sliding. It never stopped snowing until I got back to the road, and then I had 15 minutes to run down the road to meet my bus, I made it by 2 minutes! Had I missed it, my options were to hike back up to the hut in the dark and join the guide and the bus gang, or walk at least 2 hours down the road to where it joins the freeway and presumably there are more regular buses.
So I was very glad I made the last bus. My shoes and pants defrosted and water ran down the aisle.
To get to my subway station to take me to my bus I had to go through a park. No snow here, but very grey.
I stayed on the subway to the last station, Makomanai. 20 minutes to wait for the bus so I had a seven eleven cookie, bought pocari sweat and calorie mate and then enjoyed a hot milk tea from the vending machine. It was snowing outside, I was excited.
I guess I am going up there somewhere.
The last bus stop is literally in the middle of nowhere. I dont understand why it stops here and doesnt go the 2 extra kilometres to the quarry.
Now I charged up the road as snow fell, which never shows up in photos. I think the multi frame noise reduction feature on my camera actually hides it from view.
Snow plus colored leaves. If the sun would shine it would look a lot better.
The quarry car park, but which way to go?
Surely not up there, they had warning signs and chains.
I settled on the one road without signs.
Random snow photo.
A brief glimpse of sunlight, but it was still snowing.
Selfie time, I was not yet aware I was on the completely wrong path. So so wrong.
Wheres the path gone? Further up here was logs and rivers, turn back.
Now I thought this must surely be the right path?
What kind of crap is this? The internet said this is a very popular route in a national park. They wouldnt expect you to wade through a river.
Now what? I spent 30 minutes climbing over this, and once on the other side decided to give up, I could find no path!
Now back at the car park, I am thinking if this is the path, I will be furious, 3 hours wasted.
Yep, this is the path. What a stupid sign! There were no other signs of any kind showing a map or national park info or anything before the sign blocking that bridge.
Presumably that blockade is to prevent quarry equipment from driving over.
Foot steps, and every 10 minutes other people would come down, including a guided group of about 20. Some of them tried to tell me things, I just had to say sorry only English. No one tried English.
Further proof I was on the right path.
The path is to the right, see thats how its done. Theres a waterfall, AND a path.
Lake number one happened suddenly. It was awesome, came up out of a canyon and there it was.
More volcano crater lake.
The lake lodge. It wasnt too cold here, I would soon learn that this is the protected side of the mountain.
Selfie time. I had a lot more snow on me at other points, especially on the summit when it was a white out. It was so cold up there I could not take any photos. I could not get my gloves off!
Up to the summit! It was all ice now, hard going. Not sure I have photographed the ice path well though. Whenever I was sliding about on ice I was concerned for my safety rather than taking another ridiculous angry selfie.
When I was on the summit it was snowing really very hard, I could not take a photo! I descended down the other side to lake number 2. Its very very cold here. It took a lot of mental effort to take my gloves off to take this photo. The wind was absolutely howling too.
And one more of the second lake, now for the perilous descent, mostly on my ass.
Link to Hi Resolution 3000x2000 version
After what seemed to be forever, I am finally almost back to the road.
I was so happy to make my bus with only minutes to spare!
The snow is finally clearing for sunset. Once I got back to Sapporo, which is only about 20km away, there was no evidence it had snowed at all.
Very glad I did not give up and turn around after 2 failed attempts. Obviously I wish I had chosen the right path the first time, I wouldnt have been so rushed.
I blame Japan National Parks department for such a terrible terrible sign failure. The shame, they should have shame, very shame.
Halloween and curry in Sapporo
Halloween is tomorrow, Monday, or was it Friday and Saturday? No its tomorrow, but theres about a million halloween people out posing for photos tonight.
I am a little disappointed in the quality of the costumes though, nearly everyone is a zombie, a wizard, a zombie wizard or perhaps those things plus also a witch. Usually in a miniskirt with angel wings regardless, because Victorias Secret I presume.
I did not stay out very long, over 50,000 steps today, enough to earn me another curry. It is also 1 degree, so I spent much of my time underground where there isnt much cool stuff to photograph.
Now just imagine for a moment, the top today was 4 Celsius, and currently its 1, in the city. It snowed in the city in the morning. This temperature and snow is not unusual for this time of year. Consider now that October is like April in Australia. Its only going to be colder for the next 5 months. December, January and February often have days where it goes below -20, and the city gets 6 metres of snow per year.
Consider that next time you complain that its only going to be 12 in Australia for a couple of days in July.
I find this hotel name to be very amusing, but very fancy.
The original dumbo movie was on the disney channel when I left this evening, my only English channel except BBC which in prime time overdubs live Japanese translation anyway. So to celebrate, I took a photo of dumbo, who is wearing a halloween hat.
Sapporo has big boss as well.
No truer sign.
This guy seemed particularly embarrassed as his friends took his photo, so it was great amusement to them all when I joined them for photo taking.
Look closely, he is carrying what appears to be a real flick knife!
Redundant photo of the ferris wheel I went on the other night. It occurs to me I only took photos whilst on it. Still, no one wants to see a ferris wheel.
No one wants to see my curry either, but I dont care. It was nice and spicy. I loved this shops touch screen ticket vending machine to order, it had English, and the ability to add side dishes and choose spiciness. I picked a side salad which as always has an ice cream scoop of ice cold mash potato.
There are currently 2 comments - click to add
Mother on 2016-10-30 said:
It was minus 9 when we were there in January. Very nice.
mother on 2016-10-30 said:
The sign says the old bridge is closed cos it's rotten. No driving over it. Nice snow. Beautiful scenery. maybe you should consider getting some proper gear if you are going to tramp around in the snow. Crampons that strap onto your shoes are very cheap and so are decent gloves and maybe a beany.
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mother on 2016-10-28 said:
We liked Sapporo too. you will be there long enough to explore some of the Hokkaido countryside. You might even get some snow according to NHK. The words on your cup say Daibido san (David san).