Travellers: autumn in japan

Since I decided to visit Hokkaido on this trip, Furano & Biei has been on the top list of my itinerary. From the first time I looked at the pictures of Farm Tomita and Shikisai No Oka, I was sold. So here goes my day trip to Furano & Biei.

I researched here and there, and I found out that it was quite a hassle to visit most spot on both cities by public transportation, the best option should be taxi or car rental which will cost quite a lot. When I looked up for places to stay around Furano, there wasn't many options either. But since I already made up my mind to visit those places, I tried to look for another option. And this was the best option I could find (you might want to note this): Hokkaido Chuo Sightseeing Bus!

Hokkaido Chuo Bus run by reservation to various famous sightseeing spots. They have various courses which might be different for each season. And the good news was, they had the course which included the spots I've been wanting to visit. You could reserve right through the web from the link above, or you could check another travel web like Klook - where I booked the same course for cheaper price because of the ongoing discount code at that time.

The day trip started from the Sapporo Station Bus Terminal, that's why I mentioned that staying nearby the station was one of the best option. I just have to walk for a few minutes to get here and waiting for the departure time.

It was mentioned that the departure time was 8.40 AM - and the bus really headed off at 8.40! So, don't even think of being late for a minute cause they'll leave you like that. I love Japanese punctuality!

So the bus was like a regular bus, and you gotta sit at the destined number on your ticket. Each seat got a headphone which you could set to the language of your choice (Japanese, Chinese, Korean, and English). There was a driver and a Japanese speaking - bus assistant, but you can wear the headphone to listen to the audio guidance system which helped me a lot during the trip. It was really nice to look around the scenery while listening to the interesting story about the places, also several other stories about Hokkaido and its specialties.

So the course I chose was the [O] course which was available until October 14th last year. The highlight of the course was Farm Tomita, Shikisai No Oka and Aoi Ike (Blue Pond). For JPY 7,400 (the price listed on the web), other than the day tour itself, lunch was also provided. Actually this course is best traveled around summer, best time to visit Hokkaido for flowers sightseeing. The turn down of visiting this course on October was the weather. It was rainy and cloudy the whole day.

After two hours and a half, we arrived at the first stop, Campana Rokkatei. Rokkatei is a famous confectionery in Hokkaido with over 70 shops all over the island, and Campana Rokkatei in Furano is one of them. This place is located in the middle of a vineyard, and here you could shop for Rokkatei's best product like Marusei Butter Sand or enjoy some desserts with a view. We were only given 20 minutes at this stop, so I didn't do much here. I didn't shop here also, cause you could also find their products in their shops in Sapporo.

From Campana Rokkatei, we headed to Furano Wine House for lunch, which was already included in the tour package. Though it was cloudy and rainy, we were so thrilled to witness the beautiful rainbow on our way. Way too beautiful.

Both Campana Rokkatei and Furano Wine House locations were kinda in the middle of nowhere. So, I guessed most of the customers for these places were day tour tourist like us.

The restaurant was nice and cozy. When the weather is unfriendly outside, being indoor is the best option.

Since the lunch is included in the package, there was only one option for all the tour participants. We were served a plate of cheese fondue each, and also rice with beef hamburg. You could also choose between coffee or tea for the beverage. Well, Japan is an Asia country anyway, where you eat your steak with rice, haha! No complain about the lunch, It was quite satisfying and fulfilling.

Next stop was Farm Tomita. This flower farm is famous for their lavender flowers, they even got a shop with various lavender products, and snack stalls that also sells lavender taste food, like the lavender ice cream.

Since October was not a perfect month for flower sightseeing, I already expected that some area would be flowerless. But you could still witness some colorful part of the farm. It was still beautiful!

From Furano, we headed to Biei - the neighbouring city. Our first stop in Biei Was Shikisai No Oka. Here, you could witness a carpeted-like hill garden, and also dozens of sunflowers. Since the sky was cloudy, the sunflowers looked down to the ground. Well, visiting flower farms on Fall is not the best option anyway, but I didn't regret it.

Our last stop that day was Shirogane Blue Pond (Aoi Ike). Blue Pond is just one of a number of ponds that were artificially born as a by-product of said construction of a dam constructed on Biei River which was intended to prevent the destructive effect of volcanic mudflow when Mount Tokachi erupted in 1988. The pond displays various hues of blue depending on the season and the weather, and it was a bit greyish and greenish the day I came, maybe because of the gloomy weather.

So, was the day tour worth it? Yes it was! As I said before, most of the locations were not easily accessed by public transportation, and they were in the middle of nowhere. So I think day tour is the best option to visit these places! Second, well yes, these places are best visited on summer. I might want to visit again if one day I visited Hokkaido on a summer day.

A highlight video:
PS: Yeah I know, I need to invest on a stabilizer.

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JAPAN TRIP SERIES 2019
Otaru: The Serene and Charming City of Hokkaido
Furano-Biei Day Trip: Farm Tomita, Shikisai No Oka, Blue Pond
Sapporo: The Food Journal
Sapporo: The Vibrant City of Hokkaido (And Where to Stay)
Falling in Love with Yokohama's Charm
Starbucks Reserve® Roastery Tokyo
Reasons to Stay Around Asakusa (or not)
My Third Japan Trip - The Intro

JAPAN TRIP SERIES 2017
Konnichiwa! I'm back!
JAPAN AUTUMN TRIP 2017: Preparation and Cost
JAPAN AUTUMN TRIP 2017: Back to Dotonbori
JAPAN AUTUMN TRIP 2017: Fall Foliage at Minoo Park and Quick Visit to Kuromon Market
JAPAN AUTUMN TRIP 2017: Autumn in Kyoto
JAPAN AUTUMN TRIP 2017: A Day In Takayama
JAPAN AUTUMN TRIP 2017: November Snow at Shirakawa-Go

JAPAN TRIP SERIES 2015

Hello JAPAN!

JAPAN TRIP: Preparation and Cost (Visa, Accommodation, Transportation, etc)

JAPAN TRIP: 20 Random Facts about Japan
JAPAN TRIP: DAY 1 Welcome to Osaka - Umeda!
JAPAN TRIP: DAY 2 Universal Studios Japan
JAPAN TRIP: DAY 3 Kaiyukan (Osaka Aquarium) & Osaka Castle
JAPAN TRIP: DAY 4 Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden, Shibuya, Tokyo Tower, Shinjuku
JAPAN TRIP: DAY 5 Sensoji, Meiji Shrine, Yoyogi Park, Harajuku
JAPAN TRIP: DAY 6 Gotemba Premium Outlet
JAPAN TRIP: DAY 7 Tokyo Disneyland
JAPAN TRIP: DAY 8 Tokyo DisneySea
JAPAN TRIP: DAY 9 Fujio F. Fujio Museum & Yanaka Ginza
JAPAN TRIP: DAY 10 Kyoto - Kiyomizu Dera, Nishiki Market, Tsujiri Honten, Gion
JAPAN TRIP: DAY 11 Half Day Trip to Nara, Smile Burger - Kyoto
JAPAN TRIP: DAY 12 Fushimi Inari Taisha & Ichiran Ramen - Kyoto
JAPAN TRIP: DAY 13 & 14 Osaka Shopping Heaven - Shinsaibashi Suji & Dotonbori

It was one fine Sunday morning when I went to Shirakawa-Go from Takayama. I booked a half-day tour from J-Hoppers guesthouse, the hostel where I stayed in Takayama. You can book this tour also even if you don't stay at the place, but it's cheaper if you stay there. Actually, I didn't expect to witness any snow in Shirakawa-Go since it was still November, but it did snow!

Apparently, my friend went to Shirakawa-Go just the day before I went there. He told me it was snowing hard that day. He told me that it was quite hard to reach the observation deck since to road was slippery because of the snow.

The snow did not fall the day after - the day I went to Shirakawa-Go, but the snow leftover was still there. Thank God! I could finally experienced snow all around me. And the plus point of taking this tour was, it stopped right at the observation deck so I didn't have to walk there.

The view from the observation deck was magnificent. I marvelled upon the view of the village, surrounded by mountains, and snow. It was so beautiful.

From the observation deck, the bus headed to the village. It stopped on the parking lot and I had to walk to the village by crossing the bridge.

Even the view from the bridge awed me, thought it was just river with rocks and snow covering it. So yeah, snow is something huge for someone who lives in a tropical country like me. I consider myself blessed to experience this, since my friend came here the next month, somewhere in mid December, but there was no snow track at all at this place. So, check the weather forecast before you come here on November or December and manage your expectation.

The main attraction of this village are the gassho-zukuri farmhouses. Gassho means 'hands in prayer' which the steep tatched roof resembles. Some of these houses are more than 250 years old.

A few of these houses are open for public, with admission fee of course. I visited the Kanda's house and paid JPY 300 for the entrance fee.

Take a look on the interior of this house. Upon entering the house, you could spot traditional heater in the center.

First floor is for daily activities, this floor is where the living room and other rooms are.

Meanwhile the second floor is where they placed the farming tools.

More storage space in the attic.

This was the view from the attic. Beautiful wasn't it?

After visiting Kanda's house, I strolled around the village. Apparently not all of the houses in the village use gassho roof. Some are more modern, but still having that country-side feel. The village wasn't all white, but it was still charming.