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On our last day we were not planning to sit still. We were happy to see the weather had cleared up for our last destination. After our nice breakfast, packing and checking out routine we went to the rope way that should bring us to Mount Moiwa for a nice view of Sapporo. To get there we had to take a rather unusual transportation method for Japan: a tram! It was also a nice way to see a little bit more of the snow covered streets of Sapporo. When we got to our stop we already got a little treat of the nice mountains surrounding the city. There was a bus for the last 250 meters to the cable car station, but we decided not to take the trouble and just walk up to the station. When we arrived at the building we had to take an elevator to the 4th floor. From there we had a very nice view of a part of the city through a big glass window. We bought the tickets for halfway and entirely to the top. We were wondering why you would only buy tickets to the first station but our question would be answered later. We took the first (standard) rope way to get us halfway, where we immediately took a weird looking green 2-piece mini-cablecar riding on a rail to the top. On the top itself we could enjoy the AMAZING view of Sapporo and the surrounding mountains. You could also see some of the ski-resorts with people going up with their tiny chair-lift and going down on their skis and snowboards. We saw a tiny city entirely surrounded by the mountains and snow that had a little rural appearance compared to Sapporo which was lying on the other side. Sapporo is a much bigger city than you would think, and this also gave an amazing sight.The view was especially well because the view point was "lifted". The entire platform where you normally enjoy the view was covered with at least 1 meter of snow so that you had a higher and free of any obstructions (no surrounding fences, they disappeared in the snow) view. After taking the pictures we tried to find the trail that would lead you back to the first station, but after Dennis almost disappeared halfway in the snow when trying to access the start of the trail we decided to take the mini-cable car back to the first station. We did see enough groups of senior people passing by over the mountain on special snow-shoes, on their way to the next mountain! While walking back to the mini-cable car we noticed a snow-storm in the distance coming our way. So we were happy we got the very nice and clear weather while we took our pictures.
When we returned to the first station we noticed an English sign that was held up by a man promoting "snow-shoeing" with a guide on the mountain for only 500 yen per person. We still had some time left so we took the opportunity to try this kind of hiking. First we had to change our clothes to something that resembled a rain-suit. We did get a little bit worried if we would be warm enough when we would go outside. Then we had to put on some special boot-foot-leg-cover over our shoes, an extra protection from the deep snow.
We then went outside and they put on our snow-shoes, gave us our hiking/ski poles and after some instructions how you could best walk we were on our way. It went better than expected, the guides were clearly impressed we did not seem to have any trouble going up the mountain. The condition we build with our runs seems to pay off. The clothes were not cold either, because you were busy hiking. Our coats would have been way to warm for this activity.
We soon discovered the normal route would be up the mountains, back from were we came. The snow from the snow storm already started to fall so we knew there would not be any view and we already been there so the guides gave us an alternative route through freshly fallen snow. The guides even seemed excited they could take another route for once. The scenery was magical, the forest on the mountain was like an entire alternate world with all the fresh snow. We even saw some footprints of the red foxes that live on the mountain. We also did a "snow-angel" by letting us fall in an area of untouched snow, it was a life-long experience we had to try. It was not cold at all and much fun! Of course we took some nice pictures. And the guides were also a great help by taking pictures of us as well. When our time was up and we started walking back we discovered another way to go up to the top. There was a big motorised snow plough with a sledge behind it for a group of people. It took a normal route up, not very interesting for our taste. After we took off the snow shoes we changed our clothes back and thanked them for this amazing experience. Apparently this was an activity especially arranged in the period of the Snow Festival. We sure like to do it again sometime, maybe in some other snow-covered area.
We got back to the hotel to get our suitcases and took a taxi to Sapporo station. There we had lunch and took the train to Chitose Airport. While walking to our baggage drop off counter we noticed a lot of shops selling all the specialty products of Sapporo. There were more stores than we would expect at an airport. After we dropped of our baggage we decided to go to the section mentioned in the Snow-Miku magazine where also some goods of Snow-Miku should be sold. On our way we were quite surprised what we saw at the airport. There was a whole warehouse of stores, restaurants, everything! It was a very big shopping mall you would not expect at an airport! The section where the special Miku-goods were sold was not busy at all! We were so glad we did not wait in line at the Sapporo Factory, here you could get most of the goods, even the goods that were sold out at the Factory! So here we bought some mugs and browsed in some other shops before we went back to catch our plane and began our way back to Tokyo.
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