9~21May2024 13D13N Hokkaido adventure
Good morning from Otaru!
We will be checking out and heading to Kutchan and Yoichi next.
Managed to get yoghurt drinks from the onsen
We headed happily to the train station with our day bags and forgot that we need to leave it at the hotel concierge.
Luckily we were very near the hotel, ran back to leave the bags and were back in minutes.
806 am train - local direct 1 hr 13 mins to Kutchan
Breakfast on train as usual.
Passing by Yoichi - we will here in the afternoon
The local train was very crowded. We managed to get seats by the side, but many were standing.
It was a bright and sunny morning.
We started to get a very good view of Mount Yotei as we arrived.
From the station, we needed to walk about 17 mins to the first attraction.
Kutchan, being closely situated near Niseko, is also a well-known snow town.
Potato boy - the town is also known for growing potatoes
三島さんの芝桜 Mishima's Moss
The fields were not yet at the peak bloom, but already beautiful enough.
Even more so with Mount Yotei in the background..
Finishing up our snacks while still admiring the scenery.
We spent about an hour at the fields & really cannot bear to leave the beautiful place, but we have a train to catch at 1150, the only available next train.
A nearby Brewery
There were some hostels nearby. We initially tried to reserve one for a night's stay,
however, was told they were closed in May as it is the down season.
We can go to the washroom at the supermarket near to the station.
Also managed to get drinks and snacks..
1150 am train to Yoichi
Yoichi - Yoichi is famous for its winery, Nikka Whisky, so we were here to visit.
We intend to have lunch first then visit the winery.
Had also reserved a free factory tour in advance, which also included a wine tasting session.
Welcome to Yoichi
We arrived first at Nikka which is only 4 mins walk away from the train station, and need to pass through it and walk another 4 mins to Rita’s Kitchen.
We were stopped at the gates by the security, and need to show reservation details before they allowed us to pass. The guide gave us a pass to return to this gate later.
Rita’s Kitchen - Rita is French, she is the wife of the founder of the winery.
We finished our food quickly within an hour.
Had reserved the 2 pm free guided tour for 70 mins (only in Japanese language). It comes with a wine tasting session after the tour. Reservation was done 1 month in advance on Nikka's website:
Peat used as fuel in the whisky making process
Nikka's first distillery was established by the founder, Masataka Taketsuru
Time to sample the whisky
We get 3 samples
Time for souvenir
The apple wine is cheap & good.
Heading back to Otaru to collect our bags before heading to Sapporo for third and final round.
Spent a short 30 mins shopping at Daimaru before head to hotel for check-in
Sunset view from Hotel Gracery Sapporo
Compact Twin room - our room was smallest in this last leg
Expected we do not have time for dinner, so we had packed snacks earlier and snacking while waiting for next itinerary.
Managed to find this night to squeeze in this itinerary Sapporo.
Heard from Gladys and Noi the night view is different from that in Hakodate, and a must-view.
To save time on transfers, we booked from Klook a tour to Mt. Moiwa 藻岩山 & Asahiyama Memorial Park 旭山記念公園 @ $50 per pax. It includes transport & tickets up Mt. Moiwa (~2,100 yen/pax).
Pick up at 655 pm (Tour period is 2 hrs 30 mins)
Arrived around 715 pm... Little did we know that it was the peak hour.. 😅
To go up to Mt Moiwa, we need to take a ropeway (5 mins) up 3 quarters of the mountain, and then take mini cable car (2 mins) to the peak. The driver gave us till 830 pm to meet back at the car park.
View from ropeway
Mini cable car arrived the peak around 8 pm,
The supposed-to-take-10 mins up the peak took us a whole 45 mins in this peak hour!! 😓
The nightmare had not ended for us though.
We need to climb 2 levels from the mini cable car to the observatory at the roof top.
While climbing up the stairs, we spotted a queue from the mini cable car returning route.
And we could only find the ending of the queue all the way to the Roof top!!!!!!! 😮
It was an amazingly-wide night view - Most beautiful from the observation deck of Mt. Moiwa.
Sad thing was we only managed to enjoy 5 mins here.
Bell of happiness
Spot those people behind the bell - they were queuing to take the return mini cable car.
Someone in our group had also started to queue, while we take turns to have this photo.
It was another 45mins to get down. By that time, it was already 9 pm.
We only had 30 mins to drive to the next destination and back to hotel.
Asahiyama Memorial Park 旭山記念公園,
It was a short 5 mins drive from Moiwa ropeway.
Pitch dark - we cannot view much of the park at night, but just look at the night view from the observatory. So we only spent less than 5 mins in the area.
Requested driver to drop us off at Susukino instead of driving further to our hotel,
as we had plans to go for supper...
End up we arrived around 9.33 pm at Susukino, so we need not pay anything extra to the driver🍀
We waited like, around 25 mins for seats, 2 by 2
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