Hello guys!! Sorry for haven’t updated this blog for a long time. I went back to Indonesia for a week and then things happen here in Japan and I need to sort it out for a while. However, so far so good.
This post is the last series of my adventure in Hokkaido. Hopefully, you guys won’t be bored.
Hakodate is located at the southern part of Hokkaido, and we reached there by bus from Sapporo. It was a long 6 hours bus ride, but the bus was so comfy. I think I fell asleep 90% of the time.
We stayed at APA Hotel just right next to the station. There’s also a morning market next to our hotel and they sell tons of fresh seafood.
Our travel book said that Hakodate is very famous for its night view. Because we arrived at noon, we decided to go walk around the town a bit until it was dark enough to see the night view.
From our hotel, we walked about 1.2 KM and we reached to this place called Kanemori Akarenga（金森赤レンガ）. It’s a red-brick building and it functions as a shopping arcade.
The weather was kinda cloudy that day and we wanted to go to the famous picture spot in Hakodate. That’s why we skipped going inside the akarenga for the day after.
We continue walked pass the akarenga to this area called jyuujigai 十字街. That name literally means “cross city” simply because there’re a lot of church buildings in that area.
There’s a famous photo spot where you can see the harbor in Hakodate. However to reach there, you have to walk through a long hills. It was quite a walk tho because me and my friend, we walked from Hakodate JR station. If you’re not that fond of walk, you can always take the tram and stop at Jyuujigai Terminal.
The hill can be quite slippery because of the snow, careful!
If you reached the hill, you’ll see a replica of the liberty statue. From there, you can walk around the area and you’ll find a lot of churches.
The photo spot that we were looking for was around that churches area. The name of the spot is Hachimanzaka 八幡坂。
I remember precisely that this photo is taken right infront of Hokkaido Nishi Hakodate High School 北海道西函館高等学。If you can’t find the place, just paste the the name at google map.
Not so many people know about this spot, so there weren’t so many tourists taking photo at that spot.
By the time we walk down the slope, it was already dark. We took the tram from Jyuujigai to the next spot Goryoukaku Park 五稜郭公園
Fort Goryokaku (五稜郭, Goryōkaku) is a massive, star shaped, Western style citadel, which was built for the defense of Hakodate against the western Military. The fort is about 10 to 15 mins walk from the tram station.
I am so so so sorry about my lousy camera works. I my defence, to take this picture, we need to go to the top of the fort and there was glass barrier. It’s so hard to take a clear picture because the glass create reflection in the camera.
By the way, the fee to go up and down the tower is 840yen.
I’m a bit sad, because I can’t show the perfect star in the photo, but hey! Here’s an ice cream.
Oh!!! During winter, usually Goryoukaku also has their own illumination. Check some of the photos below.
From there, we rushed back to Jyuujigai to catch the last night view for that day. It was Hakodate mountain!
Mount Hakodate (函館山, Hakodateyama) is a 334 meter high mountain at central Hakodate. On clear days and nights, in particular, the views from the mountain are spectacular and included among Japan’s three best night views.
To go to the stop, you need to take a ropeway which cost 1200yen round-trip (600yen one-way). The ropeway close at 9 PM on winter, that was why we rushed back there so we can make it on time. The next day, we had to fly back to Tokyo.
I think what makes it special is, you can see the whole Hakodate city from this mountain. And you’ll see that the shape of the city is similar to a hour-glass hehehe.
The wind was a bit strong up there, be prepared!
From the mountain, we walked back to our hotel. Yes, you read it right. Walking back to the hotel. We went pass through the akarenga again.
And guess what for dinner? Beer and seafood!! The seafood here is really good, so make sure you try some.
The next morning, we did not really have any plan because we went to all the places we want to see. We decided to just stroll around akarenga and look for some present for each other hehehe. Yeah… me and Pamela, we exchanged gift at the end of our trip. She’s such a nice companion.
The weather was nicer than the day before.
The mountain shown in the picture is Mt. Hakodate.
There’s this pastry everywhere in Hakodate. People were carrying the bag from this shop, so we decided to give it a try.
After we finished everything, we went back to the hotel to take our luggage and go grab some bite in the morning market.
The restaurants in the market sell almost the same thing: seafood. And they’re really fresh. Look at my ikura and kani bowl!
And after we finished the meal, we parted. She flew back from Hakodate and I took the express train straight to Chitose and flew from there. The train costs around 6000-7000ish.
I manage to take one good photo from the train
And…. that wraps my adventure in Hokkaido.
I hope you guys do not get bored to see tons of snowy photos in my blog. Next time, I’ll post something more cheerful –> Spring Theme!!!
Bye, see you at another post! As usual, comments are always loved!
Absolutely amazing…
I’m a little sour now i didn’t visit Hakodate the last time i went to Hokkaido.
Let’s go again!! 😉