BIEI has the nickname Oka no Machi (Town of Hills)... Its real name, in Japanese, means "Beauty Splendid", and that too is an apt name. Ever since reading about the place in Lonely Planet, my Mum had wanted to go there. I sat back in my seat (the priority seat, no less), drank green tea, and enjoyed the view. Up here in the hills in central Hokkaido, the climate was temperate, and sakura (cherry blossom) was still in bloom. For the first time since my last trip to Iceland in 2006, I feel like I am back in the sub-Arctic!
Those wetlands were in fact the Kushiro Shitsugen, and how we ended up there was an exercise in stupidity (my parents'). We were on the hunt for the elusive tanchou, but nobody told us they were not in season (havingt flown off somewhere cooler). We had a few beers, and thought about what we would do. The hotel was cool. They had Chinese and butter making lessons downstairs...
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