Back to Honshu Island (August 11th) 《Summer Trip Day 10》

The Daisetsuzan YH has hot spring, too!
I got up early in the morning and took this picture.

We first planned to stay at this hostel one night, but they had nice food and hot spring baths, so we ended up to stay one more night. This day we went back to Honshu Island... We were in Hokkaido for a week. We definitely want to come to this place again!


Here is the picture of another bath of the YH.


The Mt. Asahidake Cable Car.
Can you see the workers on the roof?


Another Asahikawa Ramen!
We had lunch at Baikouken near the station.
We had soy sauce soup one with slices of pork. We had tried 3 different Ramen shops at Asahikawa, and this one is my favorite of all.


We didn't have to wait so long, but when we came out of the shop, there were lots of people in line!


Another line here... This one is the line of people waiting for the express train "Hamanasu" in the Sapporo station.


The express "Hamanasu" from Sapporo to Aomori.


Another sign of the express "Hamanasu".

Wakkanai to Mt. Daisetsu via Asahikawa (August 9th) 《Summer Trip Day 8th》

Hara Kashi-ho at Otoineppu.
The train from Wakkanai stopped here for a while.

Today we left Wakkanai for Asahikawa and then took the bus to another YH near Mt. Asahidake of Mt. Daisetsu. There were lots of French people at the hostel.
何故だか大雪山のYHには、フランス人がいっぱいいました。

《Day 8》
Wakkanai Sta. (6:24) - Nayoro Sta. (10:21 - 11:06) - Asahikawa Sta. (12:55) - lunch (Ramen noodles of course!) and did laundry - bus (15:30 -) - Daisetsuzan Shirakaba-sou YH (17:15).


The huge salmon-shaped Miso bread bought at the shop above.


Buckwheat field.


Hokusei Station... The name means North Star... What a lovely name!


Hachiya Ramen Shop at Asahikawa...lots of people in the line.


I had Miso soup one and Daniel had Soy sauce one.
The broth has strong fish flavor, so I think the soy sauce one taste better.
濃厚な魚介の出汁が効いているので、しょうゆ味の方がマッチしていたかも…


Tenninkyou with interesting rocks on the way to the hostel.


Tenninkyou Bus Stop. Pretty simple schedule, eh?


Mt. Asahidake from the entrance of the hostel.


Daisetsuzan Shirakaba-sou YH.


Mt. Asahidake from the cable car station at the bottom.


The supper at the hostel...we both got full with all the nice food.
やっぱりメロンおいしかったです。

Arriving at Hakkaido (August 5th) 《Summer Trip Day 4》

We found some apples in Aomori Station!
The phone for the clerks is hiding in this.
Aomori is famous for its apples.
青森駅はこんなところにまでリンゴが…駅員さん用の電話が隠れています。

After the nice hike in Mt. Hakkouda, we took the bus from Sukayu hot spring to Aomori Sta.
From there we took the night express train "Hamanasu" to Sapporo. We arrived at Sapporo early in the morning and most of the shops were not even open yet, so we had Ekiben for breakfast and took trains to Asahikawa. Asahikawa is famous for its Ramen noodles, so we got some recommendation from the information desk in the station building and went to one of the Ramen shops for lunch. After that we took trains to Nayoro, and then changed trains to Nisshin, where we stayed at a Youth Hostel near the station. The owner gave us a ride to a hot spring in the neighbor and he showed us the night view of Nayoro city on the way to the hostel.

《Day 3 - 4 》
Aomori Sta. (22:42) - the express "Hamanasu" - Sapporo Sta. (6:07 - breakfast -9:08) - Asahikawa Sta. (12:40 - lunch - 14:18) - Nayoro Sta. (16:07 - 16:39) - Nisshin Sta. (16:43).


The sign of the express "Hamanasu".


The first Hokkaido Station, Kikonai.


One of the symbol of Sapporo, Tokei-dai (Clock Tower).


The train from Sapporo to Asahikawa...It has fans on the ceilings.


I didn't know they grow so much rice in such a north area as Hokkaido.


Asahikawa Sta.
It is much bigger city than I expected and it was much hotter than I expected there.


Ramen noodles at Santouka （山頭火）.
I had some Ramen at one of this shop's branch in Yamagata when I was in high school.
It tasted different from that but the noodles and pork were great!
高校のとき、山形の支店でよく食べてました。まだ、あるのかなあ？


The train from Asahikawa to Nayoro.


Pippu station on the way to Nayoro.
The names of the place in Hokkaido are pretty interesting.
It must be because the names have their origins in Ainu language.
それにしても「ピップ」って…


Wassamu Sta. It sounds cool!
「ワッサム」…なんかかっこよくないですか？


Nayoro Sta. with beautiful sky.


The train leaving Nisshin Sta.


The sign of Nisshin Sta.


You can see the hostel from the station.
The orange one is the hostel.


In the room another guest occupied the bed downstairs already, so we had to climb this steep ladder...


...and got to the attic like this.


The local trains have only one car.


The sunset from the hostel.