This morning I was leaving Hakodate at the foot of Hokkaido Island and travelling further north to the main city of Sapporo. I was awake again at 4am so watching some sumo wrestling on tv.

I left the hotel by 6am and headed towards Hakodate Station. The first trams do not start this early and wouldnt have got me to the station in time for my train. My hotel had advised me to take a taxi but I didnt want to at Japanese prices!

I passed thru the old red brick warehouse area which is now a tourist district. I didnt have time to see it yesterday and was rushed thru again as I hadnt left enough time to see all of Hakodate.

North of the warehouses is the morning fish market. When they say morning they literally mean you have to get up early.

It was bustling and full of produce this early whereas when I arrived yesterday afternoon it was closed up. Again it was like many Korean seafood markets I'd ventured thru with crabs, squid, and other shell fish.

Before stocking up on food for the train at Family Mart I waited for my 7.28am train. The bullet trains from the mainland have only been extended as far as Hakodate at the base of Hokkaido Island. To go further north to Sapporo I would have to take a regular JR train. The First Class Green Car was however quite empty again.

It was a four hour journey again and the track ran along the coastline on the east and open fields and farmland on the west side.

This island was nothing like the concrete development of the mainland and was much more natural and unspoilt. Once again it reminded me of the open space and farmland in Korea.

The train was going to stop at Shin-Sapporo before ending at Sapporo Station. As my hotel was by Shin-Sapporo I decided to jump off their first and drop my bags at the hotel.

I arrived at 11.15am and it was confusing finding the right exit to the hotel. It was easy to find and is directly across from one of the station entrances. I couldnt check in yet but they took my bag and gave me directions to the bus for the Historical Village.

My first stop in Sapporo was to be at the Historical Village of Hokkaido outside of downtown. Originally I planned on going to Shinrinkoen Station from Sapporo Station but because I had got off at Shin-Sapporo there was a direct bus to the village.

At platform 10 take bus 22 to Kaitakunomura. I wasnt sure of the bus fare but turns out this a JR bus so included in my pass and I didnt have to pay. Fare would have been about 250Y ($3)

The bus stop is right at the entrance or it would have involved a lot of walking from Shinrinkoen Station as I had originally planned. Entrance was 800Y ($10) or 1200Y ($15) with a combo ticket for the museum which unfortunately was closed today on Mondays.

The village was divided into themed areas for fishing, farming, and mountain life. All of the buildings you had to keep removing your shoes to protect the original flooring so I would just take pics from the entrance.

The village main street has tram tracks and has a horse drawn tram that runs pulling tourists periodically.

Unfortunately as the bus times are so irregular I had to pick and choose which buildings to go in and time myself for the return bus back. Had the neighbouring museum been open you'd have to add another hour or so to explore and allow time for the return bus.

Again because I'd taken a four hour train ride to get here I was cutting short the amount of time I had to explore as I had more sights in town and the beer museum still to explore all today.

You have to allow for a half day to explore properly and not be so rushed with the infrequent return bus times which is free with the JR pass.