What luck to have stumbled on that festival!

Actually, these are purple Iris.

There is a second location of this store in Sapporo, south of this one. In that The ground floor of that location is dedicated to cycling and the fourth floor to rock climbing. If you shop there, have your passport with you as they will immediately discount it to be tax free.

Thanks for the tip!

Thanks for your blog. Would you mind sharing your budget (I'm Canadian)? We are looking at doing this trip next spring. Curious to see how you like camping in Japan. We were thinking that we may bring our gear.

In Utaro we saw young guys pulling rickshaws with their mountain bikes.

They really are rickshaws! I've seen young college students run them for tourists.

Thanks.
Despite our comments about the ship, what really mattered was the beautiful scenery, safety and people we met. It did us good to have time without devices or planning or activities.

Gorgeous!

Hi Susan
We really appreciate your interest and your supportive comments. I think that any approach to travel is good as long as it suits your needs and timeline. We have the luxury of 3 months which gives us a lot of flexibility, but I think that you are very wise to have your trip planned out so that you can enjoy the ride and not worry about details. Some days I wish that we were more organized! We are on Hokkaido now and it feels great. There is a different feeling here…can’t wait to explore. We have taken a few days to relax in Otaru as we are both feeling a bit under the weather, but today we are headed to Sapporo and will get back on track with the journal. I am curious what your route will be on Hokkaido.
Wishing you all the best.

It's surprising that tractor doesn't sink axle-deep in mud.

hahahahaha

You just solved an old puzzle for me. I went to the beaches of Japan years ago and was surprised at how littered they were considering the pre-occupation with litter the Japanese have. They must have been the day's littering from garbage washing up on shore.

cucumber

You are truly an opened minded eater. Not many non-Asians are willing to try this.(Not that there is anything wrong as it is all vegetarian.)