1/9
We overslept just a wee bit in the comfortable place we stayed at. It was like a private home where the 2nd floor was made into a hostel with shared rooms and such. It was cheap and I could manage to get my clothes washed, but the onsen the city was either closed or too expensive.
We got a delicious breakfast, a lunchbox with rice, grilled and marinaded pork and I can't wait to go to a BBQ place in Tokyo. I hope people there are ready!
After that we went sightseeing.
We saw many of the western churches. Now Hakodate is quite hilly and getting around with our heavy bikes was quite tough, but we managed. The churches were built because the Americans opened the trade after some 200 years of isolation from most of the western world. Hakodate was one of two port cities that had to open for foreign ships and with the ships came personnel to take care of the western facilities. And with all that came the churches and cemeteries. Both Protestant, Catholic, orthodox and Chinese. They were placed quite nice with a view of the bay and they're really well taken care of. The atmosphere there was quite special.
There were also many western buildings, among some of the more interesting was the British consulate, the several local resident buildings and a whole building for parties and dancing.
I was a little bit disappointed with the fortress Goryokaku. It's formed like a star and looks very impressive on the map. There are some really nice historic events connected to the place and the garden and houses are remarkable, no doubt. I just thought the fort would be.. taller. The walls might have been taller once. If I come back during spring I'll go watch the Sakura there, it's apparently the best place in Hakodate.
I waited for Fujita and ate one more Lucky Pierre burger, I won't get to eat them anytime soon, haha.
This was the last time I would see Fujita, so we said goodbye and I went down to the ferry. I got there a little later than I wanted to, but that's how it is. The ride was 4 hours and I slept most of the time, did some sudoku and watched tv about all the chaos the typhoon had caused.
When I got to Aomori I decided to go into town and withdraw some money, find a place to eat and get a feel of the city before I went on towards Akita. I finally decided to go eat at Gasto, a restaurant serving cheap but delicious food. After figuring out the way I had to take I departed with Aomori. The city was okay, but I didn't want to stay there for longer than necessary.
The next that happened was that the road I took intervened with a much bigger road and the part dedicated to bikes or pedestrians kind of disappeared. It was not the freeway because google maps suggested it as a road for walking, but it was not very good for anything but cars. And to add to the misery my light stopped working. Only the front light so it was still kind of okay, I just couldn't see if I ran into something.
I charged it not so long ago and then I didn't use it so if it's only good for 2 hours is something I have to take it into account for next time. I managed to avoid any collisions, but I wished that I had bought a different light. It's a bit more difficult to ride at night because you have to be extremely careful of the road.
I got to several smaller cities, but decided to go for the biggest one ahead. Hirosaki.
It's actually larger city than I imagined. And here I looked for places to sleep. The station was heavily guarded and I didn't need to talk to them to see that the station wouldn't became my cover for tonight. I thought about the park, but then I found another Gasto. Usually they are open 24/7, and tonight I'll stay here. Pretending not to sleep. It's now 01:41 am, so 5 hours or so I'll go sightseeing here in the city. My first castle is waiting for me and when I'm done there I'll go for Akita. 170 km through mountains, yay!
Distance: 80 km. Included sightseeing
Time spent riding: 5 hours, included sightseeing
Today's thanks: Fujita for being a good travel companion
Condition: could use a bath
Quote: let there be light!
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