Hokkaido Trip! (Namba, Chitose, Sapporo, Niseko)

Mt. Yotei seen from Niseko ski resort

I heard Colorado and other parts of the States have been getting a lot of snow lately. You all might be getting tired of snow, but I was jealous (it never snows here! I miss it). So I finally took that trip to Hokkaido I have wanted to do since coming to Japan.

Flight from KIX to New Chitose (Hokkaido is the large northern island)

Getting everything to work out smoothly was quite the challenge. I ended up having to catch a train down to Osaka City on Thursday night to be able to make an early 7am flight from Kansai International Airport.

Namba, Osaka with a classic tourist photo of the Glico advertisement

There was a cheap hotel just south of Namba (night-life central of Osaka). I haven't had too many chances to explore Namba (been focused on too many other areas). On the way down, I wandered through Namba to explore a bit more. Checked in at my hotel (a very modest building designed to give salarymen a place to sleep if they miss the last train after work and drinking).

This is what a 900 yen (~$9) hotel room looks like

Also on the topic of budget, there is this funny little airline called Peach that does domestic flights for extremely cheap. My flight experience was great, but I have heard other people say they found Peach a little too cheap (in a sense, you get what you pay for). When you start thinking about airplane horror stories, any odd noise the engine makes can be scary. And I can't imagine the staff working there gets paid well...

Walking out towards the Peach flight to Hokkaido

After a quick 2 hour flight into New Chitose Airport, I caught a train into Sapporo (the capitol of Hokkaido Prefecture) to run around for the day. The weather was great (felt just like Colorado climate).

Arriving at Sapporo Station Friday morning

Walked around, took in the city, and explored Odori Park (where the annual Snow Festival was held a few weeks ago). Unfortunately, there wasn't much left of the snow festival, besides large piles of snow where sculptures once were (oh well!). I made my way over to Susukino at the recommendation of a friend as 'something to see in Sapporo'. There was a lot of activity from both tourists and locals, but many of the shops were closed midday. Seems to be more of a night-life area, no big surprise. It took me a little too long to figure out what a majority of the establishments tucked-away in Susukino were for, though.

Susukino, a well-known Sapporo entertainment district

Late evening, I finally caught one more train from Sapporo through Otaru to Niseko. Niseko is one of the most well-know international ski resorts in Japan (in that respect, it's fair to compare to Vail, Colorado). I was staying in Annupuri, Niseko (1 of the 4 main resorts connected to form the larger Niseko mountain area). Annupuri is by far the most quiet (a modest little village with a few lodges and onsen). That was extremely nice and cozy, though it made going out for dinner late at night much harder (and slightly more expensive once the shuttle buses stop running late at night).

Check out the color of that rental jacket!

I think it would be fair to say there are almost as many (if not more) Aussies/Europeans than there are Japanese in the area. Take that as you will. I stayed in the main bunk room for (relatively) cheap, which meant meeting some other extremely friendly foreigners that made great ski-buddies.

Saturday ski day at Niseko (Mt. Yotei is always visible on a clear day)

Snow quality was fantastic. Niseko (and other ski resorts in Hokkaido) are famous for powder (and for good reason). With that said, the international popularity means some areas get over-skied (and I realized the reason everyone is so powder obsessed in this part of the world seems to be because the snow that isn't powder tends to be poor). But if you know where to look (and travel with the right group of people), it's easy to find great powder fields. I would say slightly more consistent, but very similar in quality and feel to the back-bowls of Vail. (I do now have a strengthened appreciation for skiing in Colorado after seeing how much other people spent just to stay in Niseko). What really made the trip worth it was the chance to meet lots of other solo-ski travelers and practice Japanese with the locals on gondolas (luckily, the vocab for the usual gondola conversations is really easy: "where are you from?" "are you enjoying your day?" etc).

Had to hike a bit for this run, but finally found some fluffy knee-to-waist deep powder fields

Skied a full day from early morning to closing (night skiing continued to about 8:30pm). In the late evening, I caught a bus out to Kutchan (the closest major non-resort town) to get some ramen at a reasonably priced Michelin star-ranked shop. A modest, almost hole-in-the-wall place, you wouldn't expect much from it. But the meal was delicious. When I started asking questions about the food in Japanese, one of the older woman running the place jumped nearly a foot and her eyes really lit up. She was extra attentive after that.

Hokkaido: known for its beer and ramen

Completed the experience with a visit to the nearby Annupuri Yugokorotei Onsen. Also modest in size, the onsen featured a rather hot indoor bath with an outside pool surrounded by snow. When I went, it was pretty much just myself and a bunch of older Japanese men.

Cute Japanese Onsen instructions

Not my own picture, can't take pictures for obvious Onsen reasons

Sunday afternoon, I caught a shuttle bus back to Chitose Airport from Niseko. Since there is basically nothing but snow and trees for miles between Niseko and Chitose, we took a rest stop at some random barn in the middle of nowhere that specialized in mushrooms (the legal kind).

Lots of mushrooms? Kinda odd but OK

In Chitose, I had a couple hours to kill before my flight. That wasn't really a problem though because New Chitose (very recently renovated) has lots of space dedicated to touristy shopping, cheezy museums, and Doraemon (kids anime show character).

Chitose is actually a pretty fun airport (pictured: Doraemon)

"Smile Road," with chocolate shops, a Hello Kitty store, Doraemon, and another Pokemon Center

Hung out with a polar bear in the nature area (not real)

Peach doesn't have fun airplanes like this one

Finally, a crazy story. On Saturday, while I was standing at the base of the mountain, a group of Japanese guys walked up to me and asked if I could take their picture. I took a picture for them, and one of them commented that we had the same jacket (it's not every day you see a bright neon yellow jacket!). After that, we parted ways. Sunday night, my return flight was delayed (Peach borrows the gates from larger ANA, and ANA wanted to use the gate at the expense of Peach...). This meant that by the time the flight arrived at KIX, the last train to Hirakata had already stopped. But while I was standing there, a Japanese guy about my age walked up and waved and showed his phone with the picture I had taken the day before! Apparently, he was also visiting friends for the weekend, and was flying back to his home in the Osaka area. While we stood there contemplating how we would both get back, he called his mom and got a ride from her. But the incredible part, he insisted they could take me up to Hirakata (about a whole hour out of the way!). Unbelievable. And it demonstrates some of the incredible luck I have had on this trip.