As a sometimes photographer, this is my fave image of The Creature from the last week or so. Makes you sick to your stomach to be an American. “Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel.” Samuel Johnson 1775.
And no the guilty verdict doesn’t make me feel “better”. It just makes me feel less bad. For now.
Trying to find lodging and transit for me around Hokkaido. It’s like chess. You have to be planning a week ahead. Now, if I find a room in Sapporo where will I go after that? And after that. And how will I make the transit? I find that I am competing with busloads of “continental Asians” as the Japanese snarkily call Chinese, for lodging.
There are some truly bizarre hotel options. While browsing for a room, I encountered a pricing scheme that left me dazed.
The cheapest option? A room with just a toilet. Yep, you read that right. Apparently, basic ablutions were an optional add-on. You could upgrade to a room with a shower… or, for a slightly steeper price, a room with breakfast. But for some reason, the holy trinity of toilet, shower, and breakfast seemed to be an impossibility.
I’m all for a good travel challenge. So, I opted for 3 nights of the “toilet and breakfast” package, figuring a couple of strategically placed water bottles and some ingenuity would see me through any required in-room “showers.” Besides, this is Japan, the land of the amazing onsen (public hot springs/bath houses). Not to mention Toto toilets.
Lesson learned: Always double-check the amenities list when booking hotels in Japan!