Friday 12th May 2017
Otaru to ferry at Hakodate
Hakodate to Aomori
It rained overnight but had cleared by the time we got on the road at 7.30am. It was quite a slow journey out of town in thick fog, one lane slow traffic until we reached Kucchan. We had a ferry to catch at 12.20 and even though Hakodate was only 240kms away, it would take us 4 hours to get there in time.
No time to stop or no coffee stops!
We did pass through very large acres of cherry trees. The tops are espaliered horizontally and covered in white netting.
Once we reached Oshamanbe we got onto the Expressway and were able to make better progress. It is an Expressway in name only but expensive toll all the same.There are no petrol stations along this stretch so had to get off at Mori, about 40kms from Hakodate to fill up.
Reached the ferry terminal in plenty of time and for some reason we were directed to wait out of line.
The cars were loaded and eventually we were motioned on and all the other cars were on a top deck. We were on the bottom deck so we were right at the front to drive off with many trucks behind us.
Hakodate to Aomori is a four hour trip and as previously most of the locals were in carpeted rooms, shoes on shelves. One room had a party going on with Bento boxes and big bottles of sake.
Arrived in Aomori exactly on time at 4.10pm and drove about 14kms to the Asamushi spa area. Here we are staying at a ryokan which has been in the same family for 400 years.
Booked a hot springs onsen and donned our yukatas which are worn all around the premises. The onsen was so hot had to get out after 20 minutes.
Dinner and breakfast were in our own private dining area and were the traditional meals with about 25 dishes.
The ryokan is near Aomori, home of the large float festival which we have mentioned previously. The ryokan has several large float pieces .
Otaru to ferry at Hakodate
Hakodate to Aomori
It rained overnight but had cleared by the time we got on the road at 7.30am. It was quite a slow journey out of town in thick fog, one lane slow traffic until we reached Kucchan. We had a ferry to catch at 12.20 and even though Hakodate was only 240kms away, it would take us 4 hours to get there in time.
No time to stop or no coffee stops!
We did pass through very large acres of cherry trees. The tops are espaliered horizontally and covered in white netting.
Once we reached Oshamanbe we got onto the Expressway and were able to make better progress. It is an Expressway in name only but expensive toll all the same.There are no petrol stations along this stretch so had to get off at Mori, about 40kms from Hakodate to fill up.
Reached the ferry terminal in plenty of time and for some reason we were directed to wait out of line.
The cars were loaded and eventually we were motioned on and all the other cars were on a top deck. We were on the bottom deck so we were right at the front to drive off with many trucks behind us.
Hakodate to Aomori is a four hour trip and as previously most of the locals were in carpeted rooms, shoes on shelves. One room had a party going on with Bento boxes and big bottles of sake.
Arrived in Aomori exactly on time at 4.10pm and drove about 14kms to the Asamushi spa area. Here we are staying at a ryokan which has been in the same family for 400 years.
Booked a hot springs onsen and donned our yukatas which are worn all around the premises. The onsen was so hot had to get out after 20 minutes.
Dinner and breakfast were in our own private dining area and were the traditional meals with about 25 dishes.
The ryokan is near Aomori, home of the large float festival which we have mentioned previously. The ryokan has several large float pieces .
No comments:
Post a Comment