IN THE MEANTIME

I finally had some time to work on my blog. I am now in Abashiri on the east coast of Hokkaido, know for it severe winters. While listening for two hours to 'happy birthday to you' i have posted two stories about hiking. But to make sure i didnt hike all the time. this is what i did in between.
in the meantime.........

cycling through Biei area and making jokes about the way the Japanese lock their bikes!

sunset cruise and watching the strange inhabitants of Lake Akan

cooking and eating an egg the hokkaido way!

thinking about Su Young and Icecream (at the same time)

it is a perfect combination

and in the meantime the dongdongju is getting ready in Korea!!!!!!!!!

AKAN NATIONAL PARK

The best tips you won't find in The Lonely Planet, you will get from other travelers. At the youth hostel in Rebun-to a japanese guy strongly recomended me to hike up Me-Akan-Dake . "it's one of Japans most beautiful hikes" he said. It seems he had to hike up that mountain many times for his work as an environental researcher, as he measured the magnetic fields on the summit. And i can tell you this guy wasn't lying!! It was the best hike i have ever made (and with 26km also the longest)

The base of this hike was the touristic town at a big lake, called Akan Kohan. The small and exist of 50! (i have count them all) souvenirshop, who are selling basically the same shit, 5 grand hotels, 4 restaurants, one big tourist information centre and luckely for me a busstop.

Main income of the city, tourism in every way. You not only can make a boattour on the lake, also you can rent a rod to go for a half hour fishing. And let me tell you, japanese tourist like it easy, so the made a fish tank of 2x5 meters in the lake to fish in. You wont have to wait long to catch a big fish. Except the bored girl who was making big circels with the tip of her rod in the water. Tourists get bored easily. The Main attraction of thistown is the Ainu (the idegious people of Hokkaido) village. Discriminated untill the late '70 the history of the original inhabitants of Hokkaido makes a interesting story. All there rituals, believes and language was forbidden by the japanese goverment. A forced migration with the Russian deal about the Kurill islands,brought diseases and suffering upon the Ainu people. Their history is strongly rooted in Hokkaido.

But i am here to hike Me-Akan-Dake. At the start a big warning that you might encounter a brown bear. No other hikers on this trail to the summit so i found myself alone in a thick pinetree forest. Suddeny i got frightened by a sudden rush in the bushes. Ofcourse a bear comes into my mind, but i see two deers jumping away from me into the distance. The bells don't just scares away the bears! The bells should rather scares away those buggering moskiquitos, who apperently like my sweet blood. At the end of the trail, the forest is gone and i found myself walking on the moon or mars.


no comment

like walking on the moon or mars. even the marslander is present

the summit

DAISETSUZAN PARK

"You made a wise decision" the parkguide responded when i told him i didn't finish the trail yesterday due to the snow parts on the track. "Yersterday we had to save a man by helicopter. Due to the snow the track isn't vissible anymore and he got lost in the mountains. We had to pick him up with a helicopter."

Getting lost here in the park is easy, Daisetsazan park is the biggest parks of Hokkaido (2309km2) so if you get lost, you really get lost! And don't forget, you must hope that a helicopter finds you before one of the many bears that still roams here, does. I ask the guide if he has seen a bear before.
"Probably you wont find them at the borders of the park", the guide replies. " the bears usely are shy and won't go to the areas where people live. But i have seen them deeper into the park".
I am for several days in the park to hike up some trails. A small bell that makes a lot of noise should keep the bears away. While walking i am thinking, should't the bell rather attrack the bears? An easy way to find a nice piece of white meat?

The first hike i make is to the top of Asahi-dake. With 2230m the highest point of Hokkaido. The mountain is in fact a volcano, one part has collapesed in time, but due to the shape of the rim you still can see that the magnificent volcanoshape. The mountain is still active, at the begining of the hike there are still geisers fuming hot and smelly air. On the way to the top you smell the air of rotten eggs. The track is a rocky climb, while the colors shift from red to grey to dark black. It looks amazing. At the other side of the summit there was still a lot of snow on the track. I could see footprints of former hikers and try to ascent in the snow. But while my feet are getting cold, i decide to return and not to finish the rest of the 5-6 hours hike. Smart according to the ranger of the park, because there were more snow parts on the track. Although you see som footprints, they melt away after a few hours.

But two days later i found myself walking in snow, up to the summit of Furano Dake. This time the road is visible because of a muddy trail in the snow up the mountain. This part is on the west side of the park, It is a green hike through pinetrees and small bushes to a rocky summit. Small birds flies around your head and sing a cheerfull tune to support you. Which is necessary because the track i took to 3 summits was 6,5hours long. That was the time for me, 9 hours according to the hiking map. The hiking map was given to me by a friendly japanese hiker that was waiting for the same bus to Tokachidake Onsen. Friendly and helpfull as the japanese are, he gave me the map and explained in broken english the possible trails to take. Very helpfull but after 1,5 hour climbing a very steep part of the hike , i stare from the the summit into a deep gorge, there where the track suppose to be. I return to the begining and take another part to the top of Furano and Kami Furano dake. I walk uptempo because i got a long way to go and there is an early last bus to catch. Luckily i meet two girls on the summit of Furana dake, who apperently have seen me hiking up the Asahi-dake two days ago. They promise me a lift by car back to the trainstation, so i wont depend on that bus. Awesome nice of them, because now i can take a warm onsen bath when i return to the starting point of hike 6,5 hours later. While my muscles are relaxing in a brown-red, full of iron, spa-bath outsidede, i stare to the tip of my toes with as backdrop the scenery of the summits i have climbed today, i have to admit that this makes Japan fantastic: Helpfull people and beautifull nature.


Daisetsuzan Park


Asahi dake


the trail to the summit

　　　　　　　　　　　

View on the rim that goes from Furano Dake to Tokachidake

at the Summit of Furano Dake

and finding my way back in the snow to the Onsen at the tip of the mountain

Islanders

A boatride did change my life. To be honest without that particular boatride i would have never met Su Young and i would have never been on this trip to my marriage. Since that boatride, i love to take all kind of boats and ferries to get somewhere. Glazing over the sea to the far horizon calms me down and sets my mind free.

The horizon i got to see the last 24 hours is just 100 meter near me and Japan is covered under one big wet foggy blanket. A bit disappointing because i have choosen a ferry from Tokyo to Sapporo to get to the big northen island of Japan, Hokaido, just to see the shoreline of Japan .

It is rainsaison in Japan, but according to the Lonely planet Hokaido has less rainfall then the rest of Japan. The climate is from freezing cold (maincity Saporro hosted in 1972 the winter omlympics) to sunny summers in july. It got mountains, extinct vulcanoes, lakes, little islands and a wonderfull coastal shore. I am from an island, Dordrecht is surrounded by rivers. the only way to get off is by bridge, tunnel or boat. Maybe that why i am attracked to islands but also shorelines. So thats why i found myself, 12 hours after the ferry, in a bus six hours along the coastline of Hokaido to Wakkanai, the most northen city of Japan.

Half asleep, half awake i pass by rice fields and wetlands. I see a small rock in the sea full with big birds, which i dont regonize. But from a distance it looks like a bunch of people on a sinking ship, trying to save the ship. Wakkanai is a typical fishersmen village, fresh fish you can get early in the mourning, but late in the afternoon the village goes to sleep. I get a bike in Wakkanai and drive along rusty boats, empty fishnets, and desolate buildings. The smell of fish is everywhere. From Wakkainai the ferry leaves to and to Rebun To, a small island which is a protected nature area.

This time a two hour ferry trip takes me to the flower island again i am disapointed because the island is covered in the fog. It is if i am going to the island of King Kong. Next to rebun-to, there is Rishibi, a mount Fuji look a like that rises from the sea. Although the postcards are perfect i see just a dark shadow hanging above the sea. The rain makes the island dark and gloomy. The flowers where this island is famous for, even shelter for the rain. The coastline looks angry and moody. The fog is coming friom the hilltops down to the small villages. Although this view is asthonishing, the next day hike of 30km has to be canceled after 10km due the wheater. It is to dangerous to go further loud thunder and storm above the greenfield, makes the trip only 3,5 hours long instead of the estimated 10hour. I am dissapointred i couldnt finish the hike.

At the last stop, i am hiding at in a little wooden busstop. It seems to be the shelter for the night of a 19 year old boy, who is cycling around Hokaido. I show him some pictures i took that day. In a flash he sees a picture of Su Young. Beautifull, very beautiful too, he remarks while pointing at her. My girlfirend i tell him, i am getting married to her very soon. I don`t know if he understands me, he doesn`t speak much english. Very beautiful, than he makes a sad faces and cintinues., me no girlfriend, i want. I laugh, give a pet on his baseballhat and give him they advice to get a car, girls dont like bikes! A few minutes later it get really crowed in the busstop, other hikers are hiding for the rain. I joked to the bikerider that he should make dinenr for all the guests that arrived in his house. When the stories goes around that the boy is on a low budget travel through　Japan, everbody gives there lunch leftovers. The boy ends up with a lot of riceballs, chocolate and sweets.

The next day the rain is gone, but the fog still covers the mountaintops. I decided to do hikecourse called 'flowerroad'　and a little bit of the 'forresttrack' to see some of the edelweis that still grows here. When i get of the bus at the start of the floweroad, an old lady ask me in japanese where i go to. So i show her the track i want to hide. She looks up the mountain and shakes her head and probably calls me mad or so. She looks at me again and mummble more japanese while still shaking her head. To be honest the flowerroad track isn't that difficult, so i am wondering why she is kind of upset. The japanse lady makes an gesture if i have enough food. I nod while pointing at my bag. I see her dissapear in the village while looking back at me and still shaking her head. I am wondering what hell i am walking too.

After half an hour you can ask me why i did get up here. There isn't any view, and the wind blows me almost of the mountain top. I think not so many people will experience this and take pictures with nothing on it. I think it is great up here! Later on the forestroad track, i meet two old ladies, who are walking so fast if the devil is on there heels. They ask me if i have seen the edelweis flower. They have been walking so fast they have missed it completely. I point them out and they returned backwards, almost running. I see them past the flowers again without looking. So i run to them shout here is the flower. But they don't have time, speedwalking further, while shouting back: yes many small flowers.........and those small flowers are the reason why people come here.

In the morning on the ferry and somewhere in the back the coastline of Japan

Wakkanai by bike


wakkanai

wakkanai

rebun-to covered in fog


I am dissapointed i am not allowed to finish the 8hours hike, due to the wheater

Making new friends in the busstop hide out

the lovely view on flowerroad


'many little flowers' even here they call them edelweis

The hostel where i stayed in is quite a different story. The whole evening loud singing and dancing. These energetic people seem never to quit. When i arrived i got a welcome shout by a bunch of people. and when i left they sing a goodbye song and shouted goodbye. I still could hear them when i was 100meter away and out of their sight.

and they go on untill the ferry finally has left the harbour

Hello Tokyo!

What do you do when you want to meet a person in a 14million city. Yes you make an appointment at one of the most bussiest points in Tokyo: shibuya or shinjuku. Sounds crazy, it is. Coming from a town where there live only 118.380 people, you aggreed to meet somewhere where probably 118.380 people pass each day. No wonder i didnt get track of Alex, which i was suppose to meet. After a travel of 26hours (from door to door) i m back in tokyo with a huge jetleg and i can hardly open my eyes after three hours of sleep. It is nice i only have to go the first night to a backpackers hostel, where i was before. Even in heavy showers i could find the place that feels like home with my eyes closed. But no way i can find Alex after a mix up of places and locations. In normal live you have the comfort of a mobile at hand, how did i made appointsments in pre-mobile time?

One of the famous meetingpoints in Shibuya is the statue of the dog Hachika. Hatchika was a dog of Ueno, a professor in the agriculture department at the University of Tokyo. The dog waited a greeted his owner nearby shibuya station, after the dead of Ueno, the dog still returned to the same place for ten years to wait for him. No wonder this is Tokyo favorite meeting point. People are waiting or anxious calling with their mobile phones. Although it is a small place it seems difficult to meet your date here at the most crowded place in Tokyo. Observing the waiting people, it seems most people here are on a date , waiting for people they had never seen before, check the faces for the first time and present a big smile when the goods seems to be loveable. People look so relieved they find their date.

I might be totally wrong, japanse people seems to be more distinguished when they meet eachother. Just a humble nod to the person, while we back home give a firm handshake and a pet on the shoulder to show our appriciating. Or worse,,, three kisses, i dont know who came up with that idea. I thoughed it was introduced by the first holliday people who came back from France, maybe my sister, who introduced to our home,, you have to give a three kisses on the cheeck to greet people. I always hated it, later on i learned by the gorgeous girls that i was supoosed to be three nissed kisses. I hated that more, three airkisses makes even less sense. My aunt never understood it anyway, one firm kiss on the lips, as a young child i despited that more than spinach and brussels sprouts. When i say hello or goodbye i have a internal struggle, luckily long enough for the counter part to decide what to do. Recently i have discovered that the French aren't to blame for this way of greeting or saying goodbye. Its the dutch! said a french girl who distinghuised placed a hand to her cheeck after my second kiss. So when i met the musicians Keiichi and Sanae, for whom i organised a tour in europe a year ago, i was wondering how to greet. A nice nod with a pet on the shoulder seemed for me the right mixture of both cultures.

I am terrible in saying goodbye. When an act, which stayed and played in dordrecht, leabves the next morning. The best thinbg is that they hurry to catch the train. Last two times actually i had to push the artist in the right train, while the doors closed immediatly. Its the best for me, a friendly wave is enough and no hessitating in kissing, shaking, hugging or nodding procedure. But that me, maybe deep down in me, my consience don't want to know it's over...................................

Saying goodbye to Su Young at Amsterdam airport was a bit awkward. Seems the world turn around. While the dutch guy checked in for a flight bounding to Seoul, the korean girl stayed behind in the Netherlands. Normally this scene on the airport is quite different ;)

Very similar to one of the pictures of my last blog. Yes it is the same 'lonely dude' place in Shibuya.

It is if i never have left Tokyo. Even the Jacket is the same. The Spookey-shirt shows is made this time ;)

It was the last and first place to have dinner in Tokyo

My favorite breakfast! A well invested sandwhich japanse style.

Sanae and Keiichi (Moskitoo + Filfla/ Fourcolor) look exited with their new game of Dick Bruna Memory.

now they got something to do during the rainperiod that just hit Tokyo.

I got this present after tough negociations with a child at the queensday fleamarket: my favorit dutch holliday.

It was nice to see Keiichi and Sanae again.

LOST IN MARRIAGE!

It started with an email of my friend Sunghee, who i had met in Korea during my travel.

Sunghee knew i had a great time in Korea and i missed the country and its food. Back home friends gave me a cookbook of the fine and delicious food of Korea and i was trying to make the bulgogi at home. But there it was the email of Sunghee, who wanted to introduce me to one of her friends who still lived in Rotterdam. So i responded that i was always happy to make new friends and in a short time i made an appointment with Sunghee's friend. Making sure this wasn't a date in anyway, we said to meet eachother in a noodlebar in Rotterdam. At arrival i saw her standing outside waiting for me in the rain, first thing to see was her boots and skirt under a red umbrella. After dinner i didnt want to split at al, so i propose to go for a cup of coffee somewhere else. When we did finally split, the first thing i thoughted was, the date that was suppose to be a date, sure felt like i date. This was my first impression of Su Young. Was i falling in love here? Next day i still felt that something special happened that day and i could not wait to meet her again and i invited her to come over and teach me how to make Kimchi. Well i was very surprised how much red pepper and garlic goes into the kimchi, but it spiced up everything. From that day on, everything felt like a rollercoaster trip. Result of Sunghee email, on the 18th of July we are getting married in Busan Korea. I am wondering, at the last night i was in Busan on my last travel, the owner of the backpackers hostel wanted to read my future. I kindly refused. If he had told me than, i would return to Busan within two years to get married there, i would have laughed. The owner might be as surprised as me. He gave me the advice next time to take it more easy in Korea, because i was one of the most busiest travels he had ever met. I don't know if this is according to his plans.

Last month Su Youngs parents, who still lives in Busan, has been really busy to arrange the marriage in Busan. Yesterday we got the wedding invitation. I know i can keep the blogsname 'lost in translation' because the invitation is in Korean. I hardly can find my own name, even i dont know where the place, where i suppose to be, is. Getting nervous here!! Probably i wont be the only nervous one, Su Youngs parents have never met me before. Can you imagine how it must feel, her daughter bring a foreigner with her, who actually is going to marry her within two weeks. It seems her parent are really kind and warm hearted persons, because they are really happy for us.

This sunday i will start my travel to the east again. Fist traveling as a single person, through Japan and later to Korea, a bachelor on it's way to his traditional wedding.....lost in a wedding?

Somewhere in the middle on the right side there is my name: wilbertjan