Day 8 : Recovery on a Long Train
I remember when planning the outline of the trip, this day was going to be boring. However, that worked in our favor due to the soreness of the previous day.
We woke up super early to catch the bus and then catch a train to then catch the shinkansen. We were on a 6 hour ride to Hakodate. I had the essentials on me. Fried chicken, egg sando, pancakes, hot tea, and Tylenol.
When we arrived, we were greeted by the cool Hokkaido air. And by cool, I mean really cold.
Our plan was to check out the city observatory and then grab some food afterward. It was way too cold to walk, so we grabbed a taxi. Unlike in major cities like Tokyo, taxis here were actually pretty cheap.
The observatory itself was cool, but we could only stay up there for a few minutes before the cold became too much to handle.
After the observatory, we went to a highly rated diner nearby. The place played old American music and had a mascot that looked kind of like Ronald McDonald, which was… pretty weird.
Despite the strange theme, the food was actually good. I got the curry, and JJ went with a burger.
After the food came the real test. The hotel had an onsen on the top floor, and honestly that was one of the main reasons I chose the place. An onsen is a traditional Japanese hot spring, where people soak in the warm enriched water together.
The original plan was that JJ and I would go about 30 minutes apart so we wouldn’t run into each other naked. But at the last minute he decided he didn’t want to go at all.
Before you enter an onsen you must be clean so there is usually a group shower area with stools. So I took a shower in the hotel room and made my way upstairs about 30 minutes before closing, hoping I’d be the only one there.
Sadly, I was not.
I put my stuff in a locker and walked past two or three guys sitting on little wooden stools, calmly washing themselves. Then I made my way to a large pool with an incredible view of the city. The only confusing part was… it wasn’t hot.
That’s when I noticed someone coming out of a pitch-black room nearby.
Curious, I wandered inside.
And that’s when I found the actual onsen.
The room was completely filled with steam. It was so thick I could barely see anything, including the one other guy who was already in there with me.
But that was it, just the two of us in this huge steamy hot bath overlooking the city.