Sunday, October 30, 2005
Hokkaido
Les japonais disent que Hokkaido n'est pas le Japon.
Ils disent aussi que le Japon n'est pas l'Asie.
La deuxieme affirmation est discutable, mais la premiere l'est moins...
A Hokkaido il y a de l'espace, des routes droites et vides qui font le bonheur des motards, des maisons qui ressemblent a des isbas, des vaches (hollandaises), des chevaux...
Les deux premiers mots que l'on y apprend son "samui" et "kuma". Soit "froid" et "ours".
L'un ou l'autre, selon votre interlocuteur, sont une bonne raison pour ne pas camper.
Ca ne nous a pas empeche de le faire, encore que vers la fin, quand les temperatures noctures descendaient sous les 5 degres celsius, nous avons decouvert les plaisirs des rider houses, qui offraient pour presque rien un toit et un futon. Notre bain quotidien etait pris a l'onsen (source thermale) locale. Nous avons goute a tout: le bain public minuscule au carrelage decole, le furo d'un gymnase municipal, les bains de luxe de grands hotels... Le rituel de l'onsen devient vite une seconde nature.
Deshabillage, lavage, bains successifs, redouche, sechage. Ne pas oublie les deux serviettes, une pour se laver / se couvrir partiellement / se secher sommairement, la deuxieme pour se secher pour de bon et couvrir le panier contenant ses vetements.
Nous avons parcouru Hokkaido en stop. Jamais plus de 20 minutes d'attente, et des chauffeurs allant jusqu'a nourrir quand ils ne decidaient pas de nous heberger pour la nuit ("samui"!!!). Nous avons pris notre temps, deux semaines et demi, mais les routes etaient belles, les rencontre extraordinaires et nous avions besoin de tout cet espace apres la densite de Honshu.
Nous sommes alles de Sappora a Soya Misaki tout au Nord, d'ou nous avons vu Sakkaline, puis de Saya jusqu'a Shiretoko, a l'Est, ou nous avons vu des ours.
Des ours!
Des vrais!
Une mere et son petit descendant vers la riviere pour pecher les saumons deja epuises la remontant. Difficile de faire plus mignon qu'un ourson. Mais nous etions entoures de 20 autres personnes armees de super zooms et surplombions les animaux de cinq metre. Comme au zoo. En fait l'endroit etait connu: s'y poster vers dix heures garantissait presque de voir un ou plusieurs animaux descendre pecher. Ca a marche!
A part les saumons et les ours, les autres animaux omnipresents etaient les daims. Beaucoup plus gros que ceux de Nara, et avec leurs andouillers au complet (ceux des daims de Nara sont scies a l'automne), ils apparaissaient un peu partout. La premiere nuit nous les entendions machouiller autour de notre tente (non, les ours ne machouillent pas).
Voyager a Hokkaido c'est un peu comme aller de mer en lac, de lac en volcan, de volcan et mer, de mer en lac volcanique... A Honshu on va de ville en ville et de temple en temple. A Hokkaido c'est la nature qui fait le spectacle. Surtout en automne alors que les feuilles virent au dore et au rouge...
Mais a Hokkaido il y a aussi autre chose. Un autre peuple donton parle rarement. avez vous entendu parle des Ainu?
Quand j'etais enfant on en partlait presque comme d'un peuple mourant. Il semble qu'a present, apres des annees de luttes pour leurs droits civiques, leur culture commence un renouveau. En gros, les Ainus sont au Japon ce que les indiens sont a l'Amerique: un peuple qui etait la "avant" et qui a ete partiellement anihile. Toujours est il qu'il y maintenant tout une serie de musees Ainu a Hokkaido, des festivals Ainu, des villages Ainu vendant des souvenirs Ainu, des spectacles Ainu etc. les Ainu sont bons pour le tourisme.
En realite, ils souffrent toujours de discrimination, mais on sent une certaine fierte chez certains d'entre eux.
Si vous voulez en savoir plus:
http://www.ainu-museum.or.jp/english/english.html
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2244.html
(desolee, c'est en anglais...)
Parc national Akan
Voila ce qui arrive apres qu'une riviere de boue volcanique ait tout detruit.
La vie reprend.
Ils disent aussi que le Japon n'est pas l'Asie.
La deuxieme affirmation est discutable, mais la premiere l'est moins...
A Hokkaido il y a de l'espace, des routes droites et vides qui font le bonheur des motards, des maisons qui ressemblent a des isbas, des vaches (hollandaises), des chevaux...
Les deux premiers mots que l'on y apprend son "samui" et "kuma". Soit "froid" et "ours".
L'un ou l'autre, selon votre interlocuteur, sont une bonne raison pour ne pas camper.
Ca ne nous a pas empeche de le faire, encore que vers la fin, quand les temperatures noctures descendaient sous les 5 degres celsius, nous avons decouvert les plaisirs des rider houses, qui offraient pour presque rien un toit et un futon. Notre bain quotidien etait pris a l'onsen (source thermale) locale. Nous avons goute a tout: le bain public minuscule au carrelage decole, le furo d'un gymnase municipal, les bains de luxe de grands hotels... Le rituel de l'onsen devient vite une seconde nature.
Deshabillage, lavage, bains successifs, redouche, sechage. Ne pas oublie les deux serviettes, une pour se laver / se couvrir partiellement / se secher sommairement, la deuxieme pour se secher pour de bon et couvrir le panier contenant ses vetements.
Nous avons parcouru Hokkaido en stop. Jamais plus de 20 minutes d'attente, et des chauffeurs allant jusqu'a nourrir quand ils ne decidaient pas de nous heberger pour la nuit ("samui"!!!). Nous avons pris notre temps, deux semaines et demi, mais les routes etaient belles, les rencontre extraordinaires et nous avions besoin de tout cet espace apres la densite de Honshu.
Nous sommes alles de Sappora a Soya Misaki tout au Nord, d'ou nous avons vu Sakkaline, puis de Saya jusqu'a Shiretoko, a l'Est, ou nous avons vu des ours.
Des ours!
Des vrais!
Une mere et son petit descendant vers la riviere pour pecher les saumons deja epuises la remontant. Difficile de faire plus mignon qu'un ourson. Mais nous etions entoures de 20 autres personnes armees de super zooms et surplombions les animaux de cinq metre. Comme au zoo. En fait l'endroit etait connu: s'y poster vers dix heures garantissait presque de voir un ou plusieurs animaux descendre pecher. Ca a marche!
A part les saumons et les ours, les autres animaux omnipresents etaient les daims. Beaucoup plus gros que ceux de Nara, et avec leurs andouillers au complet (ceux des daims de Nara sont scies a l'automne), ils apparaissaient un peu partout. La premiere nuit nous les entendions machouiller autour de notre tente (non, les ours ne machouillent pas).
Voyager a Hokkaido c'est un peu comme aller de mer en lac, de lac en volcan, de volcan et mer, de mer en lac volcanique... A Honshu on va de ville en ville et de temple en temple. A Hokkaido c'est la nature qui fait le spectacle. Surtout en automne alors que les feuilles virent au dore et au rouge...
Mais a Hokkaido il y a aussi autre chose. Un autre peuple donton parle rarement. avez vous entendu parle des Ainu?
Quand j'etais enfant on en partlait presque comme d'un peuple mourant. Il semble qu'a present, apres des annees de luttes pour leurs droits civiques, leur culture commence un renouveau. En gros, les Ainus sont au Japon ce que les indiens sont a l'Amerique: un peuple qui etait la "avant" et qui a ete partiellement anihile. Toujours est il qu'il y maintenant tout une serie de musees Ainu a Hokkaido, des festivals Ainu, des villages Ainu vendant des souvenirs Ainu, des spectacles Ainu etc. les Ainu sont bons pour le tourisme.
En realite, ils souffrent toujours de discrimination, mais on sent une certaine fierte chez certains d'entre eux.
Si vous voulez en savoir plus:
http://www.ainu-museum.or.jp/english/english.html
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2244.html
(desolee, c'est en anglais...)
Parc national Akan
Voila ce qui arrive apres qu'une riviere de boue volcanique ait tout detruit.
La vie reprend.
Adventures in Hokkaido
Hello all -
doing a lot of back dated work at the moment, trying to catch up on all that has happened since, oooh, October the 10th and the massive other chunks of time before that.
Hokkaido is the northern most island of the Japanese Archipelago, the darkest, coldest and wildest part of Japan. It is so far away from civilisation that soemtimes the only light at night is the light that comes from the vending machines that have somehow managed to populate even the most remote areas of Japan. It is also a land of lots of bears (Kuma in Japanese) deer and other assorted wildlife (snowboarders and the like). It is also completely covered in Onsen (natural hot springs) some free, some cheap, but everywhere you go you will find them. I dont think anybody actually needs a hot tap in their house. Of course there are the volcanoes that go along with such luxury, one particularly fiesty one that grew out of a farmers field near Toya-Ko of a morning in 1943. It is now a good 400ms high, and belonging to a family of three or so volcanoes. The volcanoes are active enough that the locals dont spend too much time in the bath.
Mainly though, it is just full of really sound (nice) people, who more or less chauffeured us around the whole island, fed us, put us up for the night, gave us astonishing amounts of alcohol and then fed us some more.
We arrived in Otaru, the port of Sapporo - home of all the beers in Japan, and home to Guinness in Japan as well as it happens. We had our first capsule hotel and onsen experience in the same evening - the Safra hotel and spa having its own Onsen(hot spring) and rotenburo (outdoor bath) as well. The capsules were, capsules, about twice to three times the size of the space on a lower bunk -small but not claustraphobic at all. The onsen on the other hand was palatial. it took me ages to try and figure out the protocol, I knew the theory, but when it came to the practicals, you know, which towels, where to go etc....it was quite daunting.... I know it all now but I am not telling anyone else, that I may ruin the entire experience for them. Or at least save them from some embarrassment.
Next morning we got out of Sapporro a bit and stuck out our thumb. We got a lift in a Mini (a previous driver who had given us a lift in a 1967 VW Beatle reckoned that the classic minis are really popular in Japan because of Mr. Bean)
Our driver is a soldier in the Japanese Defence force, something I am learning more and more about as we go around Japan. Our travels are taking place to the backdrop of the elections and a time of fairly significant change in Japan, at least some days that is what it feels like. OUr next lift was from a nurse up to Rumoi, our next destination. She was learning english as she wanted to go to the States. She wanted NY, her husband California. I wonder how they`ll get on. She was great as well. She nearly caused an accident on the road when she stopped to U-turn to come back and pick us up. A lot of our lifts have come from people doing U turns to come back to pick us up....people tend to come back once they have got over the shock.
Hitching is gas in Japan. It is so unexpected for everyone it seems. Some people try to ignore you, almost embarrassed by your presence on the side of the road. It feels that way - that if they acknowledged you that they would be obliged to stop and pick you up- so that they actually swerve around us as they go by. Truckers and others - delivery drivers and the like would wave or laugh, relaxed in the knowledge that they werent allowed pick us up. The funniest was from people who were genuinely stunned. I still want to learn the Japanese for `close your mouth please` and write it in Kanji on a board to hold out as they pass. That`s another thing, we dont use a destination board, you just stick out your thumb. If you hold out a sign with your destination, people may feel that because they arent going all the way there they`re not really of help to the hitcher. So you just stick out your thumb and when they stop, point at the map and say `this way` in Japanese, and then when you`re in the car you say `actually we are going there` and they often say `me too! Let`s stop for Sushi`. Avoiding the hopsitality can be impossible. On our way along the northern coast of Hokkaido, a lady and her friend picked us up, from the auspicious location of the northern most point of japan, and brought us home. After dropping her friend home she brought us back to her place. We waited for her husband, they then fed us, decided that it was too cold to camp, brought us to the local onsen and put us up for the evening in their spareroom. The only embarrassment was when the towels that they gave myself and Solene got mixed up in the dark in the back of the car on the way to the Onsen, so I arrived into the baths with a pink `Hello Kitty` towel concealing my bits. I had the bath to myself.
The longest we waited for a lift in our whole time in Japan may have been about 40 minutes. The average wait is much shorter, 10 to 20 minutes. We usually make our destination in two or three trips. It is quicker than taking a bus in rural areas, and certainly cheaper. The best thing is that you actually get to meet people, not just other back packers in a hostel, other tourists in a hotel. Just Joe Japan going about their daily business.
We have been staying with a lot of foreign teachers, all english teachers, despite mostly being from North America where a lot of people actually speak french I believe. A great bunch, that sometimes have the haunted air of missionaries in the land that time forgot. Some are people who were sick of their jobs and doing laundry, and decided to go and work and do their laundry somewhere else, others are total snowboard addicts,
to be continued.....
doing a lot of back dated work at the moment, trying to catch up on all that has happened since, oooh, October the 10th and the massive other chunks of time before that.
Hokkaido is the northern most island of the Japanese Archipelago, the darkest, coldest and wildest part of Japan. It is so far away from civilisation that soemtimes the only light at night is the light that comes from the vending machines that have somehow managed to populate even the most remote areas of Japan. It is also a land of lots of bears (Kuma in Japanese) deer and other assorted wildlife (snowboarders and the like). It is also completely covered in Onsen (natural hot springs) some free, some cheap, but everywhere you go you will find them. I dont think anybody actually needs a hot tap in their house. Of course there are the volcanoes that go along with such luxury, one particularly fiesty one that grew out of a farmers field near Toya-Ko of a morning in 1943. It is now a good 400ms high, and belonging to a family of three or so volcanoes. The volcanoes are active enough that the locals dont spend too much time in the bath.
Mainly though, it is just full of really sound (nice) people, who more or less chauffeured us around the whole island, fed us, put us up for the night, gave us astonishing amounts of alcohol and then fed us some more.
We arrived in Otaru, the port of Sapporo - home of all the beers in Japan, and home to Guinness in Japan as well as it happens. We had our first capsule hotel and onsen experience in the same evening - the Safra hotel and spa having its own Onsen(hot spring) and rotenburo (outdoor bath) as well. The capsules were, capsules, about twice to three times the size of the space on a lower bunk -small but not claustraphobic at all. The onsen on the other hand was palatial. it took me ages to try and figure out the protocol, I knew the theory, but when it came to the practicals, you know, which towels, where to go etc....it was quite daunting.... I know it all now but I am not telling anyone else, that I may ruin the entire experience for them. Or at least save them from some embarrassment.
Next morning we got out of Sapporro a bit and stuck out our thumb. We got a lift in a Mini (a previous driver who had given us a lift in a 1967 VW Beatle reckoned that the classic minis are really popular in Japan because of Mr. Bean)
Our driver is a soldier in the Japanese Defence force, something I am learning more and more about as we go around Japan. Our travels are taking place to the backdrop of the elections and a time of fairly significant change in Japan, at least some days that is what it feels like. OUr next lift was from a nurse up to Rumoi, our next destination. She was learning english as she wanted to go to the States. She wanted NY, her husband California. I wonder how they`ll get on. She was great as well. She nearly caused an accident on the road when she stopped to U-turn to come back and pick us up. A lot of our lifts have come from people doing U turns to come back to pick us up....people tend to come back once they have got over the shock.
Hitching is gas in Japan. It is so unexpected for everyone it seems. Some people try to ignore you, almost embarrassed by your presence on the side of the road. It feels that way - that if they acknowledged you that they would be obliged to stop and pick you up- so that they actually swerve around us as they go by. Truckers and others - delivery drivers and the like would wave or laugh, relaxed in the knowledge that they werent allowed pick us up. The funniest was from people who were genuinely stunned. I still want to learn the Japanese for `close your mouth please` and write it in Kanji on a board to hold out as they pass. That`s another thing, we dont use a destination board, you just stick out your thumb. If you hold out a sign with your destination, people may feel that because they arent going all the way there they`re not really of help to the hitcher. So you just stick out your thumb and when they stop, point at the map and say `this way` in Japanese, and then when you`re in the car you say `actually we are going there` and they often say `me too! Let`s stop for Sushi`. Avoiding the hopsitality can be impossible. On our way along the northern coast of Hokkaido, a lady and her friend picked us up, from the auspicious location of the northern most point of japan, and brought us home. After dropping her friend home she brought us back to her place. We waited for her husband, they then fed us, decided that it was too cold to camp, brought us to the local onsen and put us up for the evening in their spareroom. The only embarrassment was when the towels that they gave myself and Solene got mixed up in the dark in the back of the car on the way to the Onsen, so I arrived into the baths with a pink `Hello Kitty` towel concealing my bits. I had the bath to myself.
The longest we waited for a lift in our whole time in Japan may have been about 40 minutes. The average wait is much shorter, 10 to 20 minutes. We usually make our destination in two or three trips. It is quicker than taking a bus in rural areas, and certainly cheaper. The best thing is that you actually get to meet people, not just other back packers in a hostel, other tourists in a hotel. Just Joe Japan going about their daily business.
We have been staying with a lot of foreign teachers, all english teachers, despite mostly being from North America where a lot of people actually speak french I believe. A great bunch, that sometimes have the haunted air of missionaries in the land that time forgot. Some are people who were sick of their jobs and doing laundry, and decided to go and work and do their laundry somewhere else, others are total snowboard addicts,
to be continued.....
Monday, October 10, 2005
From Shiretoko, Hokkaido, Northern Japan
Here we are, having visited the Northern most point of Japan, just to see Sakhalin Island - or Russia to the rest of you. Yes, I though Id seen enough of it too!
So we`ve hitched from Sapporo in the west of the island all the way along the east and North Shore as far as the Shiretoko peninsula. The hitching has been incredible the amount of people we have met, wo have fed us, put us up for the night generally overwhelmed us with hospitality has been amazing...
Anyway, Shiretoko has recently been made World Heritage Site of Natural beauty etc - a sure way in Japan of endangering the whole place. The Lonely Planet recounts a story about how the government once made a particular type of Hokkaido Algae `a national treasure` and overnight the green balls of goo became an endangered national treasure. Shiretoko is amazing, but it is also amazing for its 3km traffic jams in the back of beyond.
It was OK though because we were walking, much to the amusment of the coach loads of tourists who ploughed by us.
We have seen more wildlife than is sensible to wave a stick at. Returning salmon coming in from the sea, and struggling up civil engineered Japanese rivers, getting ragged and haggard looking from their final push from salt to sweet water. Millions of deer, all sika, with the permanent expression of surprise on their faces, but best of all was a Brown Bear and her cub (from a safe distance) trundling through the forest on their way down to a river to add to the poor salmons` list of woes.
Trying to head south, getting nippy up here, even though it is far further south than Ireland and most of France, tent has survived a mad storm and us with it - some very funny photos of that...
We will be heading to Honshu in about a week I suppose、straight to Kyoto and Nara where we can properly complain about tourists and meet the Hokaido deers` urban relatives, who would take the food out of your pocket, according to Perrine. We shall be on our guard, we have become complacent in this very safe country.
It is a strange thing when it is the Monkeys and Deers you have to watch out for in tourist areas...
Makes a welcome change.
Until next time, we have a lot of writing to catch up on! We are publishing old posts as well, so that stuff we started writing 3 months ago may get published this month. However, I have to figure out how I can add a link to go to recently published posts. Next time!
So we`ve hitched from Sapporo in the west of the island all the way along the east and North Shore as far as the Shiretoko peninsula. The hitching has been incredible the amount of people we have met, wo have fed us, put us up for the night generally overwhelmed us with hospitality has been amazing...
Anyway, Shiretoko has recently been made World Heritage Site of Natural beauty etc - a sure way in Japan of endangering the whole place. The Lonely Planet recounts a story about how the government once made a particular type of Hokkaido Algae `a national treasure` and overnight the green balls of goo became an endangered national treasure. Shiretoko is amazing, but it is also amazing for its 3km traffic jams in the back of beyond.
It was OK though because we were walking, much to the amusment of the coach loads of tourists who ploughed by us.
We have seen more wildlife than is sensible to wave a stick at. Returning salmon coming in from the sea, and struggling up civil engineered Japanese rivers, getting ragged and haggard looking from their final push from salt to sweet water. Millions of deer, all sika, with the permanent expression of surprise on their faces, but best of all was a Brown Bear and her cub (from a safe distance) trundling through the forest on their way down to a river to add to the poor salmons` list of woes.
Trying to head south, getting nippy up here, even though it is far further south than Ireland and most of France, tent has survived a mad storm and us with it - some very funny photos of that...
We will be heading to Honshu in about a week I suppose、straight to Kyoto and Nara where we can properly complain about tourists and meet the Hokaido deers` urban relatives, who would take the food out of your pocket, according to Perrine. We shall be on our guard, we have become complacent in this very safe country.
It is a strange thing when it is the Monkeys and Deers you have to watch out for in tourist areas...
Makes a welcome change.
Until next time, we have a lot of writing to catch up on! We are publishing old posts as well, so that stuff we started writing 3 months ago may get published this month. However, I have to figure out how I can add a link to go to recently published posts. Next time!
