Hokkaido: Day One


Kansai International was a ghost town one hour before our flight. It actually only took us about thirty seconds to get through security! I didn’t even have to take off my shoes!

Today begins our seven day trip to Hokkaido! We woke up pretty early to head to the airport, after thoroughly prepping the house for the dog (Vaaska will be dog-sitted by two nice women twice a day). I’ve been so excited for Hokkaido- and now that we’re here at the ryokan hotel, I can update my blog! (Though all of these posts will be late, as there isn’t a stable internet connection here).

The plan ride was really short, but there was this really cool camera that let you watch the take off and the landing from the pilot’s point of view.... also, airport security is nothing like it is in America. I didn’t have to take off my shoes, and it took all of thirty seconds to get through it. It blew my mind!

It gets dark really early here, so we are going to have to keep that in mind when we go around exploring. By 5pm, it was already dark, and by the time we got to the ryokan, there was nothing open! Speaking of the ryokan, though, it is a gorgeous place~! I was sort of worried, as the pictures on their website don’t really do the ryokan justice, but, when we got here, there were two wonderfully nice women who greeted us, took us to the largest room in the ryokan, and served us tea. When we went out to get dinner, they gave us a handful of candy too! So nice!

The room itself is super gorgeous, and when its not so dark, I’m going to try and take pictures again. I was expecting something subpar, but it is a full tatami room, with scrolls and futons and a really nice table- all for only $38 US a night per person!

We are very excited, and are looking forward to the next week in Sapporo- I’ll update again tomorrow!