Japan’s wild North! Hiking Hokkaido’s tallest mountain.

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ABOUT ME:
I started solo travelling in 2013 and left Indonesia in 2016 to pursue full-time travelling while at the same time documenting my journey as I explore different cultures as a solo female traveller.

Having initially travelled for 5 months throughout Asia, I moved to China in January 2017 for an English teaching job, which was my first experience living abroad.

Since leaving China in 2018, I have taken the move to become a full-time YouTube creator and traveller. I strive to create unique, culture-driven content and capture authentic interactions as I travel.

Having arrived on Japan’s Northern Island Hokkaido and explored its largest city Sapporo, it was time to explore Hokkaido’s breathtaking scenery. In this video we set out to climb to the peak of the island’s highest mountain, Asahidake. With winter approaching and snow and ice forming on the peak,

Would we make it to the top with no proper hiking gear? We’ve been told by several people that we can’t really summit. We feel alive! We were so excited to experience more rural Japan, so join us as we journey into the heart of Hokkaido’s spectacular national parks.

Hello, good morning from Asahikawa, a small town in Hokkaido, a small Japanese town, that we arrived in yesterday from Sapporo because we are hoping to go to Daisetsuzan, Daisetsuzan National Park It is one of the most beautiful national parks in Japan. In fact, it’s probably the most popular one in Hokkaido.

It’s almost 7:30am We are hoping for bus number 66 that will take us to the national park itself, but we are so excited because finally we are in rural area of Japan! Hello, we are actually going up on a ropeway towards Mount Asahidake, Summit View, I think it’s called. We purchased two tickets, returned tickets, that cost us 3,200 yen per person. But it’s so stunning right now because the autumn has definitely arrived in this region. It’s so pretty, can you see the beautiful surroundings? What a stunning view! It’s just like, it’s panoramic, panoramic right? Such orange trees Yeah, it’s such a beautiful national park, especially during this time of the year where the autumn leaves have started to show up. The mountain itself behind me, I don’t know if you can see,

That’s called Asahidake, which is the tallest mountain in Hokkaido Island. We were requested to register our name. I think we were told that there’s some section of the mountain that have started to snow, obviously, and it would be really cold. But yeah, name of the leader, I’ll put your name there.

Look at this view of the mountain, Asahidake. So the mountain itself is 2,291 in terms of elevation, but we are hoping to do a bit of a hike to the peak. We actually were told or advised to buy some small bear bell, just because this is also the land of Hokkaido’s bear. Sugoi! That’s how you say very good, beautiful, I think, in Japanese. So we’ve been told by several people that we can’t really summit. Yeah, well, it’s apparently really icy up there. I mean, it’s already windy here, but apparently it’s really windy up there, but they said it’s just not safe unless you have crampons. Yeah, just because of the ice.

But I think we’re pretty happy that we’re doing this. It’s definitely really well-marked. So it’s such beautiful views. I think we can go up to like these different camps. I think we can go up to the seventh camp, which is like still quite high.

Honestly, nothing much to vlog here other than it’s windy. And obviously, it’s really great to be surrounded by pure nature like this. Perhaps Pakistan’s hiking trained me quite well because it was over 3,000 meters altitude. We just passed post seven. Ah! And we are trying to go slightly higher up. It’s just great. We feel alive! We’re at post eight! All right. So we’ve made it to post eight. What time is it? 12:45. I mean, obviously we’ve taken more time because we’re filming here and there. Yeah.

We hoped to go a little bit further, but to be honest, we’re pretty close to the top. And we can go for another 10 to 20 minutes. I think going down will be slightly slippery. And we don’t want to miss the last bus because

That’s the only way to go back to accommodation tonight. It’s been fun. Yeah. It’s just nice to get out into nature. My hands are very cold. My hands are very freezing. Very well equipped, no gloves. We didn’t plan to do this far ahead.

Obviously it was a spontaneous idea that came about a week ago. But yeah. Let’s head back down and see what we want to do when we get down. Hmm. Once we headed back down the cable car, we took the bus back to Asahikawa town. We got an early night to recover from the

Hike and spent the majority of the next day catching up on work before heading out to explore some local food and drink. Good afternoon from Asahikawa, a small town in Hokkaido where we’ve been staying for… Is it the past couple of nights? 2 nights, yeah. Tonight’s our last night

I think this is dubbed as the rooftop of Hokkaido, just because this is one of the major points on the island. We’re actually walking out to one of the nearest coffee shop we can find. It’s just something that I found this morning, and it’s quite nice with this individual coffee shop.

And I thought, why not show it to you? We are at Nido Coffee Shop, a very unique, individualized coffee shop, if you can’t tell, because the decoration is so cozy and homely. But I just asked for permission to film, and he said, yes. So yeah, I don’t know.

It’s like this is one of the things that we love exploring. [MUSIC PLAYING] When I think of Japan, I think of convenience, including the convenience stores. And I think it’s been essential for our trip. We relied on 7-Eleven, Lawson, Family Mart, and all sorts of convenience stores. An embarrassing amount, to be honest.

We’ve eaten there, probably, most days. Yeah. But it’s also like, Japan can be very expensive to travel. This is definitely a good way to just eat within your means, I guess, especially as a couple. Yeah, because accommodation will take the big chunk of your budget.

And food, if not wise, will also take a lot of the budget. But anyway, we are making a trip to 7-Eleven because there has been some dessert that we quite like. And I think– It goes beyond quite like, and I think it’s gone to addicted [LAUGHS] [LAUGHS]

I honestly can spend probably a few hours just exploring and inspecting all the things that they sell there. We’ve got quite a lot more than what we need, but it’s always fun. I wish every country has this sort of culture of convenience store.

So we have been staying at this £28 per night Airbnb. We found the cheapest one because accommodation in Japan has been quite expensive. So I was trying to look for somewhere a lot more affordable. I’ll show you a bit what the accommodation looks like. Dave is actually editing a video.

Let me show you around. So this is the entrance door. If you can see, there is a small section where you can store your shoes because basically taking off shoes in a Japanese house is considered polite and essential. And we’ve got this small but sufficient kitchen

With a bit of sink with a small electric stove. Also a washing machine, which comes in handy for long-term travelers. A tiny and compact bathroom, like in most Japanese bathroom, they are so tiny and small, and they try to fit in everything. We’ve got a toilet. We’ve got a sink.

What I appreciate is actually this bath. If you can see, it’s quite deep. It’s tiny. I think in all hotels in most Airbnbs, the bathroom is tiny. This Airbnb tour won’t be complete until I show you where we’ve been sleeping because I think some of the uniqueness of the Japanese style room

Is the fact that they sleep on the floor on a futon bed. We’re not paid by the host, by the way. It’s just fancy showing you what the Japanese Airbnb looks like. I have to unfold this first layer of the futon. It’s actually very cozy.

So we have just arrived at a local Soba place that I found a couple of nights ago, I think. Or was it yesterday? Anyway, can’t remember. But Dave and I were walking, and I was just craving for some spontaneous local food. And voila, it’s so cute. And I think the regular returning customers

Are just locals, really. I don’t know what it’s called because everything is in Japanese on Google Maps. But we’ve ordered a bowl of noodle curry and a bowl of noodles with some tempura, or the Japanese fritters. You have to, like, slurp it, really. [MUSIC PLAYING] Oh, yes. That’s what I want

Oh, my goodness. Ohh, Arigato gozaimasu! She was saying that please enjoy it without getting burned, obviously, because it’s really, really hot. So I’ve got tempura prawns, buttered prawns with noodles. Well, mine here, this is like a curry soup, a curry noodle soup. See, I think it’s a curry Soba. So I don’t know.

Right. But it’s got, like, chicken and onion. And then it’s that typical Japanese curry taste. They have an option of chicken or pork. Ready to devour this! Mmmm, mm, mm! I’m sorry, I love a good prawn. So satisfying. This is called eating ASMR. [slurp]

It’s just so sad that we have to leave quite soon. We are grateful for this opportunity to just experience Japan in more rural areas, because I’ve always liked rural places. I feel like a kid again, being in Japan, I swear. I just feel like, oh, my god.

Well I suppors this dinner concludes our day in Asahikawa, where we also hike Asahidake Mountain in Asahikawa region. I can’t wait to see you on the next video. Make sure to also check out my social media, Dave’s social media, Patreon, and all of the things that you can show by supporting us.

Anyway, see you again next time. See you. Bye!