Hokkaido 8 Days - Oct. 2009 Part II

The fourth day was full of natural scenaries, but not in Hokkaido, but at 青森 in Honshu. Dad and Mom took an hour and a half of train ride through an under-ocean, 53.85 km tunnel (青函隧道)。

Lunch was eaten in a restaurant situated inside the woods at 十和田湖. Very serene indeed

Hiking in the woods at 奧入瀨溪, breathing the fresh air, seeing the beautiful maple leaves, hearing the sounds of waterfalls, all these made people forget the unpleasant things in daily life, a very good place to retire......

They stayed at 花卷溫泉 hotspring for the night. Different hot spring every night!!!

Dad got up early in the moring of the fifth day to pose a photo at the hotel parking lot with the maple trees and the hill as the background.

The first stop on the fifthy day was 中尊寺 where they saw the beautiful Japanese chrysanthemum.

When they got to 嚴美溪, the so called most beautiful river in Japan, they saw a store at the opposite of the vally with Taiwan flag! The store passed the menu, sold its Japanese snacks and tea, collect the money through the basket on the cable wire connecting the two sides.

Taking a leisure boat-ride down 狔鼻溪 looking at the magnificant rocks and the breath-taking views were truely enjoyable.

They spent the night at 松島溫泉。

The sixth day started at 日光 National Park. 日光 was the Buddhist center in Japan and also the cultural center in the old days.


Next stop was 東照宮, a shrine dedicated to the famous general 德川家康，built with gold sheets and gold plated materials. It is now a certified World Culture Heritage site.

The hike up 龍王峽 (literally translated as Dragon King Vallye) was not strenuous at all, especially with the help of the hiking sticks. The vally was formed through volcanic eruption some 20 million years ago.

As with every other nights on this trip, Dad and Mom enjoyed their dinner banquet wearing the kimono at the hotspring hotel at 龍膽湖溫泉(Dragon Kidney Lake)。

The seventh day was a city tour of Tokyo with 明治神宮、淺草觀音寺 and 雷門, followed by the 台場海濱公園 at the beach front. Dad and Mom took a photo with the Statue of Liberty!

They visited 湯島聖堂 (Confucious Temple) and 神田神社 on the eighth day. They also visited the world renowned University of Tokyo, the best univesity in Japan.

The last stop was the former emperor's resident. Much of the building itself was gone, only the walls, main entrance and the beautiful moat remained. This wrapped up the relaxing and fun 8-day Japan trip for Mom and Dad. They had enjoyed good food, comfortable hot springs, nice scenaries, the company of good old friends and many many unforgetable memories.

Hokkaido 8 Days - Oct 2009, Part I

Dad and Mom went on a 8-day tour to Hokkaido Japan from 10/18 to 10/25 with Mom's National Taiwan University classmates. Unlike other tours with young people, these mid 60's grandpas and grandmas enjoyed a relaxing trip with good food, good views, good hot-springs and good friends.

They arrived at Sapporo late in the evening, so they could only walk around the shopping district for a while before checking into the local hotel.

The second day started with the visit to Hokkaido Shrine, the center of worship and the only shrine in Hokkaido. The maples trees this time of year are vibrant with different shades of color. Quite a beautiful sight.

Next stop was the old administrative center of Hokkaido which was built in the American Baroque style. The old Timing Tower was also built in an American style, but more with the Western frontier flavor. It is the oldest remaining time tower still in operation.

From the group photos, can you tell who was the oldest and who was the youngest of the group?

The group departed toward the "Devil's Valley" after the city tour. It was actullay the remains of volcanic eruption about 10,000 years ago. Till now natural gas and hot steam are still coming out from beneath the ground.

They checked in and enjoyed the hotspring at 登別溫泉 for the night.

The group went on a little walk up 昭和新山 early the third day. It was formed two hundred years ago in the middle of a wheat field with a volcano eruption. It is still considered a "living" volcano and gets higher every year. The current height is at 407 km.


When they got to Toyako Lake, the weather was getting cloudy and much cooler. The Lake was the third largest lake in Hokkaido, again formed from volcanic eruption. To view the surrounding scenaries, Dad and Mom got on a boat tour with the group.

The next stop was "Big and Small Marsh Park" 大小沼公園 to ride the dragon-bicyle, which was a long chain of tricycles connected together. It requird team work and group effort, if some people did not peddle, it would be much tougher for the others to get the entire chain going.

Though it had started to rain, but the group still enjoyed the beautiful maple leaves at 五陵廓 Park, a famous landmark in Hakodate。It was also the site of an important battle between 1868 and 1969.

The third day ended with the night scene up Hakodate Mountain. The night view here is considered the top three night scene of the world, with the other two being in Hong Kong and in Napoli in Italy. They enjoyed 湯之川 hot spring tonight.