ferries – Susan Spann, Adventure, Mystery, and Mountains

CHAPTER 33: I Love Rishiri

Susan Spann 1000 Summits, 1000 Summits Hikes, Blog, CLIMB Photo Companion, Hikes August 14, 2023August 12, 2023100 Summits, 1000 summits, ferries, Hokkaido, Hokkaido Hiking, hyakumeizan, Japan, japan hiking, Mt. Rishiri, Rishiri

September 23-24, 2018 This photo supplement tracks the events in CLIMB: Leaving Safe and Finding Strength on 100 Summits in Japan. The captions offer “extra features” that didn’t make it into the book. On the morning of September 23, 2018, in the wake of a violent storm, I boarded a ferry from Wakkanai (Japan’s northernmost major port) to Rishiri Island, a three-hour trip that I hoped would end better for me than it had for the crew of Gilligan’s Island. The sun came up over the water as the ship steamed north; I watched the sunlight break through the lingering clouds and

By Ferry Across the Seto Inland Sea

Susan Spann Blog February 6, 2019February 6, 2019ferries, seto inland sea, travel

After finishing last week’s climbs in Kyushu, I decided to travel home by a slower, and often (wrongfully) underrated means of transportation: an overnight ferry across the Inland Sea. The shinkansen (bullet train) is faster, and the overnight bus much cheaper, but overnight ferries have a surprising amount to offer . . . especially when you splurge on a private room. Like most Japanese ferries, the Meimon Taiyo ferry that sails between Kitakyushu and Osaka (the black line on the map below shows the route) offers several classes of accommodation. Tourist and economy classes basically consist of dormitory-style rooms with futon on the floor for sleeping and shared bathroom and shower