Good bye Asahikawa

On Sunday morning there was a  flea market on the shopping street outside the hostel. We had a look on and found some really neat things. I would of liked to spend longer looking but we were on a mission to find a thermos and stock up on food as we were off to Asahidake at midday and we needed to get food for lunches as there would not be access much food and no certainty of the availability of vegetarian food. Hence the thermos so that we could make miso and take it with us each day. We could not find a thermos at the department store and we were running out for time before we had to get the bus - we decided to have another look at the market because I thought I had seen a small thermos when we were looking before. Fortunately I spotted a big thermos that still had the instruction book and the box it was bought in. This was an extreamly good find as it cost ¥400 compared to the Tully's thermos that was ¥3,500 that we has saw earlier that day. 

With packs on back and a quick stop and a market stall to get omomomiyaki and a Japanese donut-like pastry it was time to get the bus up the mountain. Eating the omonomiarki while on a bus and trying to pick put the slice of bacon was quite a challenge as it is a messy food at the best of times. I have to say we did extreamly well and managed to not get any food on ourselves, our cloths or the bus. We arrived at the youth hostel and were shown out tatami mat room. The room is a traditional Japanese style room so we get to take the beds put of the cupboard each night and them fold them away in the morning. This youth hostel is the very very  nice. There is an Onsen downstairs and the food for dinner and breakfast is lovely. I feel very pampered and I feel like the chef has done a great job in accommodating David and I not eating meat. 

We went for a walk up to the visitors centre to see what walks we could do while we are up here. The woman at the centre gave us some advice about which paths has too much snow on them and which bridges were unsafe to cross, ( as a side not she had a very hypnotic voice that was a pleasure to listen too). We went on two of the short walks that were suggested before heading back to the hostel for dinner. In the first five minuets of walking we saw a dear run into the forest, which was such a surprise to see. There we signs on the second train that asked people to not pick the flowers on leave any rubbish ( these are the sign with the little mouse like creature on them - the Pika). 

After dinner it was time to try the Onsen, which I had been looking forward to for quite a while. The water in this onsen is very very hot and it is hard to stay in the water for long. So saying it was still lovely. 

Ok i think that is enough from me for now. We are traveling from Asahidake to Suporro tomorrow so I should have time to fill you in on the last two days then.