Sapporo Art Park

I had most of the day free before the late afternoon train to my next destination, Furano, east of Sapporo. Sapporo Art Park was on my list of places to visit, and I was glad I could squeeze it in before leaving Sapporo. First, I had to get the subway and change lines. The changeover … Continue reading / view photos Sapporo Art Park

Otaru

Sapporo, the fifth largest city in Japan, is on Hokkaido, one of the main Japanese islands. Sapporo, being the capital of Hokkaido, is a good base for visiting other places. One of the popular daytrips from Sapporo is to Otaru, northwest of Sapporo. It took me 30 minutes to get to Oraru on the rapid … Continue reading / view photos Otaru

Mount Moiwa and Hokkaido Museum of Modern Art

Mount Moiwas is 532m above sea level. My walk to the top started from the same location as the Maruyama walk a couple of days ago. This was twice the height. There were more people on the walk but it wasn’t that busy. Hikers are very friendly: everyone says hello to you (“konichiwa”). There were … Continue reading / view photos Mount Moiwa and Hokkaido Museum of Modern Art

Sapporo TV Tower and Moerenuma Park

My plan when I left the hostel was to go to Moerenuma Park. However, the sun was out today. As I passed Sapporo TV Tower, it looked good. So, I decided to go to the top of it for the panoramic views of Sapporo. I saw the length of Odori Park, which I walked along … Continue reading / view photos Sapporo TV Tower and Moerenuma Park

Some candles flicker and some candles fade

SinĂ©ad O’Connor’s lyrics expressed deep emotions and conveyed raw vulnerability. Her powerful, soulful voice — sometimes haunting, sometimes uplifting — brought her songs to life. She wrote about her own life and about the injustices she saw in our world. She was a force of nature, who refused to be crushed. At the beginning of … Continue reading Some candles flicker and some candles fade

A hike, a shrine, and the red-light district

On the Alltrails hiking website, I found a few hikes around Sapporo. Since I’d started late, I chose one of the shorter ones that would give me views of the city and whose start could easily be reached. A reviewer of the walk commented that they wished they’d done the walk in reverse because there … Continue reading / view photos A hike, a shrine, and the red-light district

Sapporo – Hokkaido – Japan!

I got to Seoul’s main airport with plenty of time to look around. Once again, there was some sort of parade going on! The South Koreans love a parade! I’m flying to Sapporo in Hokkaido, a part of Japan I’ve never visited. There are over 14,000 islands in the Japanese archipelago, of which 260 are … Continue reading / view photos Sapporo – Hokkaido – Japan!

Non-stop rain in Seoul

It rained and rained and rained on my last day in South Korea. I searched for some indoor activity and settled on going to the National Museum of Korea. My hostel owner gave me an umbrella and I made my way to the museum by bus and metro. In the photo on the right below, … Continue reading / view photos Non-stop rain in Seoul

War Memorial of Korea

In all my time in Seoul, both before and after going to Busan, I’d stayed in this lovely hostel run by a considerate owner. It was well located, reasonably priced, close to a grocer, and had all the facilities I wanted: washing machine and dryer (both free to use), kitchen, and dining/lounge area. They even … Continue reading / view photos War Memorial of Korea

Baegundae Peak

Samgaksan is the highest mountain in the chain of mountains to the north of Seoul and consists of three high peaks named Baegundae (836m), Insubong (810m) and Mangyeongdae (787m). When people saw the mountain from a particular location, it looked like three horns. These three peaks were collectively named Samgaksan (literally ‘three-horned mountain’). You can … Continue reading / view photos Baegundae Peak