Ryo - our friendly guide from the Akan Nature Center
Ryo pushed a shiny metallic flask into my hands.
I tipped the flask and filled my cup with a clear, brownish liquid. I caught the smell of mushrooms and took a sip.
Ryo, spotting a boyish stubble, grinned from ear to ear.
“You can’t buy this from shops!”
My young Japanese guide had given me mushroom tea freshly brewed by his mum this morning. We had just pulled our canoes out of the cold waters of Lake Akan. I helped to lay the canoes on the reeds while Ryo grabbed a mat from the depths of his canoe. Within seconds, we had a small picnic going, complete with crackers and mushroom tea.
A picnic in picturesque Lake Akan
How Ryo stowed everything in his canoe was beyond us. The coup de grace was a 5-inch thick Japanese-English dictionary that he pulled out of his pocket from time-to-time. 2 hours on the lake with our shy and knowledgeable guide had transformed our impressions of Akanko-Onsen (Hot Spring) – the main attraction along Lake Akan.
Akanko-Onsen – packaged tour hell?
Our first impression of Akanko-Onsen was not good. We had driven 3 hours from Sounkyo Gorgo when the small village emerged from the deciduous trees. Our perch for the next 3 days was Hotel Gozensui located along the main street called Kouun-no-mori Shopping Place. This narrow, 2-way street was lined with hotels on one side and tacky sourvenir shops on the other. I had the sinking feeling that this is going to be our first packaged tour hell in Hokkaido.
Akan Nature Center to the rescue
Most tourists probably take the ferry tours and plow across the lake. As usual my wife and i wanted to do something different. So we drove to Akan Nature Center looking to sign up for their guided canoe tours.
A middle-aged lady, Ryo’s mum as it turned out, greeted us. She seemed surprised to see us. They probably don’t get many foreign, independent travellers here. Her husband told us in halting English that there’re no more tours today. We are to turn up tomorrow at 9am sharp. Great!!
