Joe suddenly had a wild idea -why don't we go all the way up to Saporro on the rail pass! The trains are so fast we can get up there in a day! That way we can have a quick look and note where to come back to, and where to leave out on the road trip! We were expecting more interesting countryside in the north of the country.
Well the countryside was less heavily populated, with some nice mountain views.
But it was hardly remote countryside we were in. Even the farming areas had a house every 100m and small rice paddocks. There was no square mater of land that was not used, except on mountain slopes. The land is very brown still with no sign of greenery. It is still winter here with snow visible on the mountains, and further north snow still on the ground, melting, but still there.
It was the Shinkansen again to Aomori, where we changed trains to go underground and undersea across to Hokkaido, the northern most island of main islands of Japan. The tunnel is 240m under the sea, and 54 km long.
The train to Saporro was a slow train and the last leg of the journey was quite wearying. There were good views of seaside towns, and industrial areas. There were more mountains than we had seen previously and they still had snow on them.
We arrived in Hokkaido feeling quite weary, and tired of the bleak brown countryside. We had booked into a ryokan (traditional Japanese Inn). These are quite different from the usual hotels. We first had to walk in the early evening, with baggage, and of course we got lost. Joe went off to scout the area leaving me with the baggage. The streets feel safe here even after dark. He came back having located the ryokan, and off we went again.
We were greeted half way there with bright "Turner -San?". It was the ryokan proprietor come to help with the luggage. Some-one Joe had asked had told him where we were! That was the beginning of a very different and interesting evening!
We were taken to our room, asked to remove our shoes, directed to wear slippers in the hall ways, and socks in the room, shown the shared baths with signs indicating which gender was allocated which bath, introduced to the "kimono girls" who would serve us, and we went in. The room was bare except for a table and floor chairs (a cushion on the floor with a wooden back). The floor was covered with Tatami mats (woven bamboo). We had our own private bathroom, but could use the communal baths if we wanted -they are open 24/24.
Soon a kimono girl came into the room and offered us tea, and asked if we wanted to eat. They knew were vegetarian. We ordered something simple. She came back with a feast!
There was more there than we had ordered (and next morning I'm sure we didn't pay any extra).
We had a great time adjusting to sitting on the floor, using chop sticks for soft tofu etc.
After dinner the kimono girl returned and made the beds.
The futons were quite hard but not too bad. The pillows were stuffed with some grain ? Barley. They were hard!
Then it was bath time. We wanted to try the communal baths but were a bit nervous about appearing naked in front of strangers, with the language problems etc. but were game so scrubbed ourselves off in our private bathroom (at least that could be private rather than in full view of others!) and dressed in the house robes they gave us.
We separated and went to the bathrooms - and nobody else was there! Almost a let down. But the water was HOT! 40"degrees according to the thermometer in mine. It was a nice hot soak. I lasted about 10 minutes I reckon!
We had a good nights sleep, other then struggling a bit with the pillows. But it was interesting to try the traditional pillows.
14/4/14
Next morning we had breakfast in the ryokan. The staff had gone to some trouble to have vegetarian food for us. It was Japanese style, with pickled vegies, some coleslaw with Japanese dressings, tofu, miso soup, fruit, and NATO! We have never had Nao before, but we sure have read about it. Google it if you haven't heard of it -look for a Utube vid and you'll see what the fuss is about!
The NATO did not smell bad, but it sure was stringy! NATO is fermented soy beans and exclusively Japanese. It is slimy and had strings of slime hanging off it. But it wasn't as bad as the videos looked. The strings were stuck to our chins and they took some managing though. I'm sorry I didn't have the camera for that!
So our ryokan experience over we took a walk about Saporro. It looks quite bleak with leafless trees. The streets are wide and will be easy driving. There are underground car parks but no street parking. Saporro is a very modern clean city.
It also appears that Hokkaido has a network of scenic parking spots, with views, scenic walks etc nearby. It might be possible to camp in these places.
Today it is back on the slow train back to Aomori via the undersea tunnel. It will be a late checkin tonight and train tomorrow to Matsumoto for more cherry blossoms.
We have travelled almost the full length of Japan!
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