A Patchwork of Beauty, Biei, Hokkaido, Japan

I dream of wide, open space.
I dream of seeing the sky, the land and the air in between.
I dream of hills, how I wanted to intentionally slip and roll.
I dream of a single tree, a couple of trees, a families of trees.
I dream of flowers in bloom, to be surrounded by them.
I dream of colors, field of colors, a patchwork of colors.
I dream of Hokkaido.

Everything that I have imagine what Hokkaido is I found in the town of Biei.
With its wide fields, where one of the most famous attraction is an Oak Tree standing closely to each other resembling a mother, a father and a kid (“The Tree of Family”), to say that Biei is picturesque is an understatement.

Biei is breathtakingly serene in all sense. While walking along the hills, I have this belief that I can reach the sky if I just jump high enough, that I can capture the air and bring it back home, and how I badly wanted to listen to Sigur Ros.

The few red-painted houses along the road and the occasional passing of a tractor made the patchwork road charming even more. No wonder that some of the most famous commercials where shot in this town.
“The Tree of Ken & Mary”- Nissan Automobile, 1972
“The Tree of Seven Stars” – package of Seven-stars, 1976
“The hill of Mild Seven” – package of Mild Seven, 1977

One of the places that captured my heart is the Hill of Zerubu.
True to its theme – “Enjoy playing together on the hill with scenting fresh wind”, Zerubu is a combination of last characters from the three words- “Kaze (wind)”, “Kaoru(scent)”, “Asobu(play)”.

Fields of Lavenders, poppies, sunflowers, my visit may not be the best months for flower viewing but the Zerubu Hills is more than satisfying just as the same.

Visiting the Tourist Information Desk closed to JR Biei Station, you will be immediately greeted by the English speaking staff and two questions will be asked:
1. Which area do you want to explore- Patchwork Road,Panorama Road, Refresh Line? (Orchid: Patchwork Road)
2. Do you have car or are you going to rent a bicycle? (Orchid: No car. Renting a bicycle? Hmmm…maybe? No, better Not, to tiring. Is there any other options?).

Yes, there is another option. That is to rent a taxi for an hour that will drive me around Patchwork Road.
Maybe because I was a solo female traveler, I was assigned with a lady driver.

Visiting Biei off-season can be expensive. Though, the rewards of solitude is what I actually was looking for, a different kind of solitude- to queitly gaze to openness without buses of tourists roaming around.

I wonder how does Biei look like during Winter? Judging from the photo stills of this Japanese TV Drama- it might be just the perfect place to fall in love.

Time to head back to Sapporo. A magnificent view from the train, just the perfect way to end the day.

Full volume of Sigur Ros music playing on my iPod.Finally.

Happy 2013!