日本のホテルはすごいらしい Japanese hotels were terrific

洞爺湖　Lake Toya

北海道では両親が一緒に旅行に連れて行ってくれました。はじめは洞爺湖（火山活動でできたカルデラ湖）へ。湖の中心に中島があり、フェリーで渡れます。そこで自然歩道を散歩して鹿や蛇に出会いました。長さ１ｍ以上もある蛇は青大将といって日本本土最大（南西諸島を除く）の蛇らしいです。毒はなし（とは知らなかったので多少びびりました）。３匹も見ました。

青大将　Japanese rat snake

My parents took us on a trip in Hokkaido. First, we went to Lake Toya, a volcanic caldera lake. There is an island in the middle of the lake, called Nakano-shima. We got across there by ferry and ambled on a nature trail, meeting deer and snakes. The snakes seemed to be Japanese rat snakes, more than 1m long. They are the largest snake in Japan outside the Southwest Island. I was a bit alarmed, not knowing they were harmless. We spotted three of them.

大湯沼川　Oyunuma brook

煙が上がる活火山を見学した後、登別に移動しました。登別は火山活動で形成された地獄谷で有名で、その名前はぼこぼこ泡を立てて煮えたぎる水が地獄を思わせることに由来するそうです。美しい自然に囲まれた温かいお湯の川沿いを歩いて足を浸せたのは極上の体験でした。

After we visited active volcanic mountains emitting plumes of smoke, we moved to Noboribetsu. which has another area created by volcanic activity, called Jigokudani, Hell Valley. The boiling and bubbling water reminded one of Hell where demons live. But the walk along the hot water river and dipping our feet in it were heaven.

色々楽しんだ中、夫が最も感動したもの。それは、ホテルのバイキング。えっそれですか！？夫いわく「仕事で世界の高級ホテルに行ったけれど、こんなすごいの見たことがない。」　その場で調理してくれるステーキやてんぷらをはじめ、世界各国の料理が楽しめる。その種類の多様さ、少量ずつ好きなものを試せるシステム。そしてなにより何度でもおかわりできる。日本のバイキングはレベルが高いらしい。

ホテルの庭　Hotel's garden

Amongst various interesting experiences on this trip, the one which most impressed my husband were the buffets in the hotels. Seriously!? Yes, he said that he had never seen such an amazing buffet although he has been to many posh hotels in the world for his business. We could enjoy every kind of food including steak or tempura cooked on the spot. The variety and the arrangement which enabled us to try different foods, little by little, were marvellous. On top of that, we could refill a plate as many times as we liked. Buffet in Japan came across to him as high-grade.

余談ですが、先日寺の宿坊に泊まった翌日、場末のラブホテルに泊まりました。日本の別の面も見られるように・・・というか、普通のホテル予約サイトで予約できてかなりお得な値段だったので。普通は車でこっそり行くもの（？）なので駅から遠いのが難点でしたが、夫はその設備のすごさに驚嘆するばかり。キングサイズベッド、大きな液晶テレビ、映画のスクリーン、カラオケ、マッサージチェア、ジェットバス、スチームサウナ・・・「この値段で５つ星のホテル並みの設備」とのコメント。イギリスにはラブホテルなんてないので、夫は驚いたようです。前日（寺滞在）とはまさに正反対の体験。外国人観光客にはやるかも。

Incidentally, the day after our temple lodging, we stayed at a so-called 'love hotel' on the outskirts of a town. I booked one to show my husband another side of Japan, or should I say just because it was very good value and I found it on a normal hotel search website. The drawback was the distance from the station, which one should expect as the place is normally accessed furtively by car. However, my husband was astonished by the facilities, his eyes opened wide. A king-size bed, a huge flat screen TV, a film screen, a karaoke machine, a massage chair, a bubble bath, a steam room...etc, he described the room facilities as like a five star hotel's, but at a bargain price. There are no such love hotels in the UK, so my husband was surprised by the difference, a complete change to the previous day. I think these hotels may grow in popularity amongst foreigners.