We wake up the day after skiing Rusutso and the realization has sunk in that we need to head south to the main island for a bit of walking around like a tourist and to head east back to the states. We left Niseko and our friend Kate in the rear view mirror as we made our final drive in our van towards Sapporo.

On the way we decided to hit up one of our favorite mini golf areas, the roadside avalanche barriers. In the end I was the only one motivated enough to find all my ski gear to go huck my meat…turns out I’d have been better off without it. I was pretty stoked to give another go at front flipping off an avi barrier. First time I landed on my head, second time my back, but with the worst shin bang ever.

This is gonna hurt...

“I’m #%^*ing done!”

Back in the van we drive our way to Sapporo. We find our car drop off area…thank god we have a gps unit built in. We use a parking lot across the street where it probably takes a solid 45 minutes to unload, pack , and clean out. We got lots of stairs and laughs from passing Japanese locals. If only we knew just how much of a shitshow we were really in for. Unlike most car rental agencies elsewhere, there was no shuttle van to get us to the train station. We each picked up our ski bags with two pairs of skis each, our duffle, and day pack and made our way a few blocks to the train station.

Junkshow.

After fighting our way through the language barrier to figure out which train to take, we finally get ourselves booked onto the overnight train bound for Tokyo. The accommodations weren’t bad for sleeping, but the baggage situation was a different story. We filled both hallways at the end of our cars with ski and duffle bags, and were asked to move them a couple times. In the end it all worked out fine, but it was just a royal pain in the ass.

Arriving in Tokyo, we made sure our hotel was super close to the train station. Thanks mom! I feel certain none of us want to carry all their crap anywhere again. After showers and ditching the long johns we decide to set out. Just walking around Tokyo is entertaining, and the food is incredible.