I caught the car ferry to Kanita after Wakinosawa. I had an hour and a half to kill before the limited express came which took us from one local stop to the other from Honshu to Hokkaido. That meant going under the Tsuguru straits, of course. I was pleasantly surprised to find a series of walks and an overgrown shrine, up some steps and just opposite the ferry port. I didn't have time to really explore, and it was humid with cicadas madly buzzing, but I saw the usual litany of headless statues and torii.
I got into Hakodate at about four pm. It's a really lovely city and very easy to get around. As the Japanese didn't start ousting the Ainu until the end of the nineteenth century, a lot of modern transport and so on had been invented, and the city is laid out in a gridlike pattern.
I went to Cape Tachimachi first, which was stunning and a beautiful place to catch the sunset. Whilst there I saw a small family of three balancing perilously on one of the crags jutting out from the cliffs, seeming to throw the ashes of a loved one into the ocean. Again, I'll write more about that later.
I went to see the night view of Hakodate, for which it is famed, but I thought it had prettier attractions and ate in the famous ramen alley. I had yakisoba (fried noodles), and ika gyoza (squid pot stickers) which was no better or worse than usual yakisoba and pork gyoza. The next morning, though, I went to the Asaichi morning fish market, and ate a wonderful bowl of seafood ramen with a shio (salt) base. Hakodate is famous for its seafood ramen and this little joint with its clientele of early morning night workers certainly lived up to that reputation. Yum. With a very satisfied tum I wandered over to the station to catch the train up to just beyond Sapporo.
*More is to be added to this later. Just getting a few thoughts down while I remember them.
I got into Hakodate at about four pm. It's a really lovely city and very easy to get around. As the Japanese didn't start ousting the Ainu until the end of the nineteenth century, a lot of modern transport and so on had been invented, and the city is laid out in a gridlike pattern.
I went to Cape Tachimachi first, which was stunning and a beautiful place to catch the sunset. Whilst there I saw a small family of three balancing perilously on one of the crags jutting out from the cliffs, seeming to throw the ashes of a loved one into the ocean. Again, I'll write more about that later.
I went to see the night view of Hakodate, for which it is famed, but I thought it had prettier attractions and ate in the famous ramen alley. I had yakisoba (fried noodles), and ika gyoza (squid pot stickers) which was no better or worse than usual yakisoba and pork gyoza. The next morning, though, I went to the Asaichi morning fish market, and ate a wonderful bowl of seafood ramen with a shio (salt) base. Hakodate is famous for its seafood ramen and this little joint with its clientele of early morning night workers certainly lived up to that reputation. Yum. With a very satisfied tum I wandered over to the station to catch the train up to just beyond Sapporo.
*More is to be added to this later. Just getting a few thoughts down while I remember them.
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