Our First Trip to Hirafu.

[John_Janelle 0]

Well, it's been one month since we returned from our trip to Japan, and I thought it about time I posted a summary of our trip and my thoughts etc.

On January 7 we flew from Cairns to Sapporo, via Guam, with Continental Airlines. Apart from leaving Cairns at 1:30 in the morning, I could not complain about the flight. We had about 45 mins connection time in Guam, which I was a little worried about. As it turned out, the US immigration people were friendly and managed to fingerprint, photograph and clear us in pleanty of time. We landed at Sapporo around 11:00 am. We were all surprised to see so much snow around the airport. We had pre-booked a bus from Sapporro to Hirafu, and after a little confusion finding the correct bus, managed to arrive at the welcome centre around 4:00pm on January 8. Our accommodation met us there and took us on a quick tour, pointing out the important stuff like Seico Mart and the only atm.

We had boards, boots and helmets booked through Demo. The quality and condition of the gear was excellent.

We had 3 days of lessons on boards and decided that if we had too many problems, it was back to Ski's. Needless to say, we are all converted to Boards now!!!! Hanazano was where we chose for our lessons, on advice from our accommodation. Turned out to be a very good choice, with only the 3 of us to our instructor for the 3 days.

We all got better as the days went on, but on day 6 I sprained my ankle. Out of action for 2 days. Managed to get back on for a very cautios run on the last day.

The snow continued to fall during our stay, and what we thought was a lot of snow at the start, turned out to be just the beginning.

A shot of the main intersection in town.

 

Nearly got a picture of All of Yotei.

 

Having so much area open to night skiing was a highlight.

 

While the ankle was swollen I managed to hobble around and take a few scenery pics.

 

After 10 nights it was time to leave Hirafu. We caught a train from Kutchan to Chitose. For someone who can neither speak or read Japanese, this was a little daunting. Apart from missing our first train in Sapporo, it was easy and very interesting.

Left Sapporo and had 6 nights in Guam on the way back to Cairns. Really worth seeing.

All in all, we had a really great time and would definitely do it again. The quantity and quality of the snow was beyond what we had imagined. The people were extremely polite and the service excellent every where we went.

My only regret is that I did not learn Japanese. Even though we had no problems, I would like to be able to say more than my 3 or 4 words.

John.

[Metabo Oyaji 71]

Looks like it was a great trip. (Apart from the ankle.)

 

How were your 6 days in Guam? What were the most enjoyable activities? Historical sites? Scuba diving?

 

[Mike Pow 52]

Great pics and great to hear you enjoyed your first visit.

[SKI 15]

Nice

 

Is that top one the famous Seikomart junction?

I suspct they do a good business there.

[HelperElfMissy 42]

Yes it is Ski.... but the Seicomart is the building to the far right of the photo (the peak of pale coloured roof).

 

The building you see is the Ab U Cha Bakery - they make quite good pastries and coffee's - which we enjoyed for breakfast a few times. It was the last place we ate before leaving for home (as it was so close to where we stayed), a quick breakfast before collection for the Welcome Center.

 

Seicomart is VERY busy at certain times of the day.

[sanjo 2]

First look at that nighta picture and it reminded me of Ishiuchi Maruyama.

[John_Janelle 0]

Metabo,

We really enjoyed Guam. We were to do some diving, but there was a strong wind warning out for the area until about the day before we left. If we were to dive, it had to be in the first 4 days of our time there, so as to avoid the deco issues with flying.

We done an island tour, which was really worth doing, as the guide had lived there almost all of her life and had a huge wealth of information about the island.

There is a lot of historical sites there, but unfortunately a lot of the buildings were destroyed, or almost destroyed, during battles between the Americans and the Japanese.

The shopping and food were excellent.

 

Mammabear's right about the bakery. They do make excellent pastries. Janelle spent most mornings there.

John.

[Roger's head 0]

Nice photos.

Good to see some of the places I have heard much of.

[Tubby Beaver 209]

whats the history of Guam? Was it annexed by the US after/during WWII? Was it Japanese before? I don't know squat about Pacific history

[Metabo Oyaji 71]

It was taken over by Spain from the native Chamorros about 400 years ago, then ceded to the US as a result of the Spanish-American War a hundred or so years ago. Was taken over by Japan for the duration of WWII, and is now a US territory again. Now thrives on Japanese tourism, plus a US military base.

 

Spent a weekend there a few years back. The beaches are surprisingly unsuitable for swimming, due to shallow reefs extending far beyond the shore line. (Though for the same reason, the snorkeling is probably great.) But was intrigued by the local culture and history, and would like to spend more time inland some time learning about those.

 

 

[Go Native 70]

There's no snow in Guam so really who cares?!

[gurgle 0]

 

 

Completely off topic....but...

 

When I sent to Saipan(near Guam) a few years back we met some mainland Chinese that were living there. They were all working in factories making Tee-shirts and stuff like that.

 

All a bit strange for sure, the reason apparently is so they can put "made in the U.S.A." on the products.