I'll let the pictures talk first....
A feature of the last few days was this onsen, Fukiage onsen, an outdoor couple of pools, with a waterfall behind us and snow all around. The view was spectacular and it was a mixed onsen. Not to mention free! We thought this was the best onsen we have found. We camped there the night, and again the next night, after we had spent some time in Furano.
The onsen turned out to be quite social. We met this group of men, and with limited English managed to ascertain that one of them had ( or maybe sold) drones to take agricultural photos).
Also at this onsen we met an American couple, Stephanie and John Dyer, who
live in Furano. And wonder of all wonders they are willing and able to look after our vehicle when we go home for a couple of months! And they like travelling in motor homes so they stopped to look at our vehicle -great luck for us.
Nira asked for the address of a pottery, and so we found this lady and her shop. She also served coffee (made with the water from a cut in a white barked tree) and a dish of sautéed mushrooms and asparagus. Of course we couldn't resist.
The building was a mud daubed traditional style building with a wooden tree rings floor and gravel. It was very charming. She also had a visitor who had good English so we were able to talk quite well with them and really enjoyed our time there. I'm sorry we didn't get their names!
The Roches and us separated for the day to see the sights of a furano. Nira and Stuart found a small restaurant for lunch, which was mainly vegetarian. Nira asked the owner if she would give us a cooking lesson the next day! And she agreed!
Next day we turned up there with Stephanie Dyer and her daughter Megan (who did a great job of translating for us) and we had a very enjoyable and education time watching Rika cook Udo, a vege soup/stew. She showed us a number of Japanese sauces. She also showed us how to reconstitute dehydrated tofu! That will be useful next year in Russia! It was one of the best afternoons we have had in Hokkaido!
Then Rika refused payment! So I hope she gets more customers through this page. The food was delicious! Here is her shop....
And here is her card.
The Furano area is beautiful, with beautiful agricultural views, and snow capped mountains. We went to a rope way (cable car) which takes you up to an active volcano. It was a highlight of the trip -with snow still around.
This photo was from the cable car. 
That is the volcano behind us.
And here from closer up!
And lastly the blue pond from near Furano...
And now we are off northwards, to the very top of Hokkaido. That is wilderness, so there may be a few days before I can blog again, so please join up for email notifications of when I upload the blog -from the web page.
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