Path: ccsf.homeunix.org!ccsf.homeunix.org!news1.wakwak.com!nf1.xephion.ne.jp!onion.ish.org!news.daionet.gr.jp!news.yamada.gr.jp!newsfeed.media.kyoto-u.ac.jp!newsfeed.icl.net!proxad.net!postnews2.google.com!not-for-mail From: worthj1970@yahoo.com (John W.) Newsgroups: fj.life.in-japan Subject: Re: recommendations for hokkaido drive? Date: 31 Aug 2004 14:24:18 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Lines: 25 Message-ID: <73fde4f0.0408311324.5389487a@posting.google.com> References: NNTP-Posting-Host: 67.32.36.230 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit X-Trace: posting.google.com 1093987459 27159 127.0.0.1 (31 Aug 2004 21:24:19 GMT) X-Complaints-To: groups-abuse@google.com NNTP-Posting-Date: Tue, 31 Aug 2004 21:24:19 +0000 (UTC) Xref: ccsf.homeunix.org fj.life.in-japan:17752 noonehasthatname@yahoo.com (wondering) wrote in message news:... > yo. my friend and i will be flying to hokkaido in 3 days for a short, > one week drive, primarily along the eastern side. as you can guess, > we're not interested in looking at stuff next to a bus load of > tourists so if you have any recommendations for anything (places to > stay, stuff to see, places to eat, etc.) that's overwhelmed by > tourists, i'm all ears and would appreciate hearing from you. > No specific recommendations, but since nobody else's chimed in I thought I would. First, learn the Kanji for temple/shrine and visit places that have those symbols; I've had many a fine adventure doing that and seen some really cool places that few tourists see. Second, go on the web and find a group that does stuff you like to do (hiking, kayaking, paragliding, etc.) in Hokkaid and contact them; they should be able to provide some granular info on both those activities and stuff to do in general (and might get you a place to stay and/or a guide). Third, wake up early; not sure where you're from, but the sun rises much earlier in Japan (in my experience) than in the US (where I'm from); I used to wake up around 5 or 6 am and do a morning hike/bike ride before work and have plenty of daylight. Finally, if you meet a man named Debito (David) Aldwinkle, run in the opposite direction. John W.