Our long anticipated holiday to Hokkaido finally arrived when we flew up on Sunday 21st August. After a short bus journey from Kushiro Airport, our first night was spent beside Lake Akan, famous for green balls of algae called marimo. The area of Akan is also the last bastion of the indigenous people of Japan, the Ainu.I have actually been to Lake Akan once before, about 14 years ago accompanied by vacationing university friends (Grambo, Bash, and Hank). We travelled up to Hokkaido on board the MV Blue Zephyr under clear blue skies, accompanied most of the way from Tokyo by dolphins. Unfortunately, this ferry service from Tokyo ceased some years ago - not at all surprising as we were practically the only passengers on board. As my friends and I all had such a great time during our visit in June 1997, I was excited to retrace some of my steps and see whether or not anything had changed - nothing had.
Memories of my last trip to Lake Akan are:
- hiking to the top of Mount Oakan (and cutting my leg)
- sleeping in the tent with the fear of being attacked by black bears
- sitting relaxing and chatting by the campfire
- bathing in the local onsen (and scaring the other patrons away)
- a marathon pedalo trip on Lake Akan to a small island
- listening to the hand over of Hong Kong on my small radio
Clara is adamant that the marimo on sale are actually fake. She said that there is a little old lady who makes the green balls from regular algae and then puts them into jars for gullible tourists - I am inclined to believe her.
The best memory of our most recent trip to Lake Akan has to be the late night onsen and jacuzzi on the roof of our hotel. Very relaxing and peaceful.
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