4th Day of Travel – HAKODATE
Waking up at 06:00 hours always sucks. We were up and moving about. I thought that we would have been able to make the 07:00 hours train by waking up this early, but my buddy was starting up a little slower than usual this morning. I think Jet-Lag was finally setting in.
We missed the original train that we were trying to catch, but fortunately were able to make the next train at 07:30 hours. The trip was long, but I can’t say much for it because I slept the entire way. I believe I only woke to give the train personnel my ticket to look at for the trip.
Arriving at HAKODATE at about noon, we made our way to the post office. There was the whole thing about not having any money that was still on our minds. I was able to convert 2 of the international money orders from checks into money. ALRIGHT! We have some money, let’s go have fun!
We went to the next hotel, again another CHISUN Grand Hotel, and I have to say that this one was found rather quickly, and from there we went to the Five Sided Fort that was located in HAKODATE. It was one of two in JAPAN.
When we got there, there was a tower that was right next to it. It looked like nobody was allowed to enter the fort, probably because of the horrible weather, but we were able to go into the tower adjacent to look down into the town and the fort. It was a spectacular view.
Coming down from the top floor, we got a quick meal. There was a place serving curry and we went in for some. I actually ate HAYASHI Rice. It was alright, but a little pricey for the amount that you actually got. Ben at the end of the meal was still hungry and wanted to have a little dessert at an ice cream parlor he saw while coming in.
It was called the “Weird Pierrot.” An interesting name for a burger joint… Well we went in and found out that this place was known for the biggest burgers in the area, and we were dumbfounded by the plate sizes of things that were being served as we ate the ice cream.
Looking at the time, I noticed that we were running behind schedule. We rushed back towards the hotel. Near the hotel there are some western style buildings and a ropeway that will take you to the top of Mount HAKODATE.
We visited the shrines, temples, churches, and gov’t buildings before going up the ropeway. It was a spectacular view from the top. Ben was quite worried because it was very foggy, but once up on top his worries went away. We decided to eat dinner while up there.
Going to the only restaurant there, we had Ghangis Khan Pork. I don’t know what it means, but it was decent and we added a pizza to it. Finishing our meal, we tried to go outside, but the weather was just too bad, and we decided to head back down the mountain.
Getting to the bottom, I wanted to go revisit all the buildings we saw prior. My reasoning is that they are all lit up at night. Finishing the same path we took earlier, we started to head back to the hotel.
(The famous HAKODATE Roman Car: ロマン車)
Ben noticed a super market as we were heading back and asked if we could head inside. There he was able to see the first JAPANESE super market. It intrigued him, and he actually bought various items to snack on.
Getting back to the hotel, I went to ask if there was an internet café around the area. Unfortunately, there was only one, and it was closed. Fortunately, there was a machine in the lobby that would let you get 10 minutes of online time for ￥100. I spent 20 minutes figuring out the location of the hotel we would be staying for the next three nights.
Going back upstairs to the room, I flipped on the TV to watch some comedy game shows and drank some specialty beer to the area. I’m not a fan of KAMUI chocolate Staut beer. It is just not that good. Darn…
Well, another day down. Tomorrow we make our way to KYOTO! It will be a long 10 hour trip… sigh…
More coming!
For more photos click HERE!
If you would like to see the rest of the HAKODATE photos click on the title or HERE!
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