Hakodate - May 2018

Photo album

Thursday 24th May

We headed inland, and as we neared Kutchan, the Fuji-esque Mount Yotei started to appear. We stopped at the edge of Niseko and had some genuine Hokkaido cheese tarts while enjoying fantastic views of the mountain. We decided to swing past the Yotei Nature Park, which was pristine and deserted apart from a couple of workers tweaking some of the playground areas... it looked like camping season was about to start.

We headed south and picked up the expressway for the long scenic drive to Hakodate. The traffic was typically travelling at around 115km/h - a very comfortable speed despite the posted limits of 70 or 80; however at one point we were the only car on the visible stretch until a police car zoomed up behind with flashing lights. I pulled over and they pulled in 30 or 40m behind. Mariko had been dozing and was still stirring when the police instructed me to do something through their megaphone, all in Japanese of course, and she didn't catch what they said. They might have noticed our hire car sticker on the back and figured we weren't worth the hassle - they just said, "Start. Go, GO!"... and I gave them a friendly wave and eased back onto the road. I think I might've even stuck to the speed limit for a few minutes, but being constantly overtaken by coaches travelling much faster meant that I soon resumed a more typical speed. I was a bit worried that there would still be ramifications, but I haven't heard anything yet! The expressway was mostly single-lane with an overtaking lane every 15 or 20km; there were several pieces of earthmoving equipment being transported with enough of a gap that when the convoy of faster vehicles overtook one, they very quickly got caught up behind the next.

We had a very warm welcome from our accommodation hosts, before heading out past the Winning Hotel to see the oldest concrete power pole in Japan. We couldn't resist the appeal of the Lucky Pierrot hamburger restaurant, staffed by predominantly quite senior ladies, who seemed a little incongruous in their fast food restaurants, and resignedly nonplussed by having to perform the bell-ringing ceremony when someone ordered their giant burger.

We finished the night with a trip up the ropeway; we were a bit too weary to attempt a climb this time. The view amazing, and worth the hype. A very memorable visit! On our return to our accommodation, our hosts presented us with personalised chopsticks - a delightful touch.

Friday

A rainy start to the day - we headed to the seafood market which had a fantastic atmosphere. Many of the stalls were staffed by high school kids, perhaps a work experience thing. We walked the few kilometres to the Goryokaku fort, enjoyed the view from the tower, then had a wander through the grounds. We decided to get tickets for the Hakodate Magistrate's Office, which (we eventually found out) is a modern recreation - it didn't seem to attract much interest from the other tourists, but it was great! I particularly enjoyed the video showing how it was reconstructed (even though it was in Japanese), and the staff there seemed to take quite a bit of delight in showing us the points of interest.

We had a quick look and some lunch at the local Muji before taking the tram back past our accommodation to the port area. It was fantastic that all of the various transport operators accepted our Suica and Pasmo travel cards during our trip. We had a gentle stroll further on where there were some very ramshackle homes and boat repairers. We had a look at the Ainu Museum, which was quite good - we had a fantastic performance of an Ainu mouth harp by the lady behind the counter, but we declined to buy one (it sounded great! ... but I have too many instruments...), then wandered back up to the Red Brick Warehouses to browse the shops, before looping around the grand historic buildings of Motomachi Park. We finished a long enjoyable day of walking with a loop around Midori no Shima.

For dinner we headed back towards the fish market, finding a sushi restaurant, but for me at least, it didn't quite live up to the usual standard, despite the pride that the owners expressed.

Altogether, a lovely short stay in Hakodate!