Hokaido
23 Aug 2006
August is the best month to visit Hokkaido. That means, if you like the sun. As the most northern island of Japan, Hokkaido has short summers and long harsh winters. But they are prepared for the bad weather. E.g. they have beautiful shopping malls, completely covered but it feels like you're outside.
We choose the sunny season and when we arrive, it turns out there's a beer fest going on. A lot of beer, in all kinds of kegs you get your own beer machine on your table. There is also a parade with a geisha and her entourage.
That parade didn't pass by quickly, but when you look at the geisha, who has to walk in special shoes with 30cm platform soles, it is not a surprise it takes time. We never found out why the festival was organized, but it was beautiful to watch.
Hokkaido is paradise for fish and cab lovers. The most beautiful thing is that it is affordable. Two big crabs for about 60 euro. On the other hand, fruit is very expensive. We saw melons which were 30 euro each...
Hokkaido is famous for its beer: Sapporo beer. Of course we visit the beer museum. Carlos tries several different kinds and loves them all....
The next stop is the wine museum in Furano. We also did some tasting there. There were several kegs with wine and you could help yourself. But we behaved, after all it was still early and we were driving, so...
Besides beer, there are lots of dairy products. We went looking for the cows. There were enough warning signs on the road about bears and deer, but it wasn't easy to find a cow.
A fake one was easier to find and for 100 yen you could milk it. So here's the city girl, with a bucket at her feet, milking the cow.
We still kept looking for the real thing. It turns out they were in the barns. Maybe it is too hot for them to be outside.
Next to the local drinks, we sampled the local culture. A peformance by the "northern people" the Aino, the original inhabitants of Hokkaido, was also on our program. During the performance we got an explanation about the Ainu customs, where were also demonstrated in their dances and songs.
In th prison museum we learned about the history of a famour Hokkaido prison. Not much fun, but which prison is fun?
Nature is beautiful in Hokkaido. We have been on some great hikes.
The last hike was also the most strengeous. It was very hot on that day and most of the walk was without cover, so the sun was constantly beating down on us.
Every now and then we saw a sign telling us how much further till the end. What, only half way???
But it was definitely worth it, the view was breathtaking. Of course we had to add a little pebble to the mount of pebbles. Then it was time to go back down....
We choose the sunny season and when we arrive, it turns out there's a beer fest going on. A lot of beer, in all kinds of kegs you get your own beer machine on your table. There is also a parade with a geisha and her entourage.
That parade didn't pass by quickly, but when you look at the geisha, who has to walk in special shoes with 30cm platform soles, it is not a surprise it takes time. We never found out why the festival was organized, but it was beautiful to watch.
Hokkaido is paradise for fish and cab lovers. The most beautiful thing is that it is affordable. Two big crabs for about 60 euro. On the other hand, fruit is very expensive. We saw melons which were 30 euro each...
Hokkaido is famous for its beer: Sapporo beer. Of course we visit the beer museum. Carlos tries several different kinds and loves them all....
The next stop is the wine museum in Furano. We also did some tasting there. There were several kegs with wine and you could help yourself. But we behaved, after all it was still early and we were driving, so...
Besides beer, there are lots of dairy products. We went looking for the cows. There were enough warning signs on the road about bears and deer, but it wasn't easy to find a cow.
A fake one was easier to find and for 100 yen you could milk it. So here's the city girl, with a bucket at her feet, milking the cow.
We still kept looking for the real thing. It turns out they were in the barns. Maybe it is too hot for them to be outside.
Next to the local drinks, we sampled the local culture. A peformance by the "northern people" the Aino, the original inhabitants of Hokkaido, was also on our program. During the performance we got an explanation about the Ainu customs, where were also demonstrated in their dances and songs.
In th prison museum we learned about the history of a famour Hokkaido prison. Not much fun, but which prison is fun?
Nature is beautiful in Hokkaido. We have been on some great hikes.
The last hike was also the most strengeous. It was very hot on that day and most of the walk was without cover, so the sun was constantly beating down on us.
Every now and then we saw a sign telling us how much further till the end. What, only half way???
But it was definitely worth it, the view was breathtaking. Of course we had to add a little pebble to the mount of pebbles. Then it was time to go back down....