Good Morning Sapporo! おはようさっぽろ!
Main image is of the local area near Sapporo Station around 07:00am.
Our long journey to get here started with over 13 hrs of flying/being in airports. The flight included a nice japanese dinner with a solid cup of Häagen-Dazs! While the sun was up for nearly all of the flight eventually the windows were all closed for everyone to go sleep.
Once we arrived to Narita Tokyo airport, we took the hotel shuttle Tobu Narita Hotel. Our first Japan experience was a cool mix of old and new. There were traditional yukatas to wear and bedside smart console that controls everything from the clock/alarm and radio (which connects to speakers in the bathroom) to the room lights and a/c.
The next morning we caught the 5:30am shuttle to bring us back to the airport so we could catch the various trains to take us to Sapporo. At least this trip was shorter – taking just about 10 hours. Most of the trip was riding super fast japanese bullet trains, or shinkansen, using our JR (Japan Rail) Pass. The JR Pass let’s us ride as many trains as we want (that are part of their company) for 28 days. For this trip, there were transfers in Sendai and Hakudate. For food, we grabbed some quick snacks from 7-11. Our whole breakfast cost ¥847 (about $8)! We also grabbed some train station lunch boxes (ekiben).
At Sapporo, we dropped off our bags at our friend Brett’s spacious, 100 square foot apartment (typical size for students) and grabbed some much needed ramen (20 minute walk).
