Hokkaido, Japan

During February 21-March 1, 2008, we took a trip to Hokkaido, Japan. It was the second time for me in Japan after the first trip five years ago but it's my first time to Hokkaido. Hokkaido is one of the four main islands of Japan, the others being Honshu, Kyushu and Shikoku. Since it is located in the northernmost zone, it has long cold winters and cool summers. The winter ranges from November to March. It was therefore in the late winter when we got there.

We had 17 people in our group, most of them familiar faces who love to travel after retirement or at least in preparation for retirement. This time we chose World Surprise Travel Agency to organize the trip for us. The trip started with 3 days in Abashiri, the northeastern city of Hakkaido, another three days in Sapporo and Hakodate which are located in the south of Hokkaido, and the last two days in Tokyo and Yokohama.

It is very difficult to tell what I enjoyed most in this trip, since I enjoyed almost everything. Besides the beautiful scenery of Hakkaido, the white and soft snow all over the places, the magnificent Japanese food, the warm hospitality of the Japanese people, the most comfortable "Onsen", etc., I was also very happy spending time there with my friends and my son, who, had to take a leave from his work in order to accompany me. This trip was one of the most pleasant and fun trips for me.