August 11th, 2012 | categorizilation: all categories,Hokkaido (Japan),Japan,Post-2008,Shiretoko Tour (2012)
The  hiking troupe had planned for today to be a rest day, so we decided it was a great chance to take the day off too. The day began with an open-air hot spring down the road from okaasan’s place, and only about 1m from the lake’s edge. Originally built as a private onsen by the mayor of Teshikaga, it is now open to the public.
Later in the morning we all bundled into Leon’s car and visited the well-known (evidenced by hordes of tourists) Suna-yu Onsen. Basically this is a 300m stretch of lake-side beach where anyone with a pair of hands (or preferably a shovel) can dig into the sand and make their own hotspring pit.
Leon, being un-intimidated by the chilly weather and chillier lake, jumped into the lake for a swim.
The next stop was a nearby sulfur-spewing mountain-side. Complete with un-roped-off steam vents, spewing ultra hot steam out of the ground. What is a man to do with such novelty but to throw his hat onto the hole to see if it will make the hat fly up into the air?
It didn’t work, evaporating my giddy curiosity into pained embarrassment when I almost burned myself retrieving the hat from the scalding hole.
August 10th, 2012 | categorizilation: Hokkaido (Japan),Japan,Post-2008,Shiretoko Tour (2012)
Lake Kusharo is a massive caldera lake. As such, it has a number of natural hot springs bubbling up around its shores.
The hotspring above is one such example. This is an open-air mixed hot spring. The interesting thing about these baths is that while public nudity anywhere else would be utterly and completely intolerable, it seems not even slightly the case for open-air hotsprings. Just a few minutes after I took this photo, two men arrived and presently stripped naked and hopped in. Not even 2 meters away, were a couple of 13 or 14 year old girls paddling about on the lake shore catching tadpoles. That seemed strange to me.
The strangeness continued as we wandered along the lakefront. A man in a wetsuit was walking towards us with a lumping great big parrot clinging to his hand.
To leave him at home would be unthinkable, said the owner and his wife. That’s why they take him on holiday with them. Their kids were splashing about on a canoe a few meters away.
The pleasant surprise for today was that of meeting up with friends from Sapporo who were in the area. Leon, Ric and Matt were on a two-week hiking trip around Hokkaido, doing some of the bigger multiple day treks in the mountains near Shiretoko. Even more surprising was that Ric’s mother-in-law (Ric is English, his wife is Japanese) lives in Kotan. The invitation to stay with them at okaasan’s (literally mother’s) place was quickly accepted. Due to this chance meeting, we ended up hanging around Kotan all day.
In classic Leon style, BBQ was the choice of evening meal.
Distance: 10km | Time on bikes: | Average speed: | Bears: 0
Financials: Food:Â 2,350yen | Accommodation:Â 0yen
August 9th, 2012 | categorizilation: all categories,Hokkaido (Japan),Japan,Post-2008,Shiretoko Tour (2012)
Today it rained. Like cats and dogs it rained. We waited out much of it inside the Teshikaga Public Library, where we both did some work on some distance study we are doing at the moment.
When we left the library, it started raining again. Not that that is all together bad. Cycling in the rain is actually quite a lot of fun, in a strangely sadistic way. It is the camping in the rain (with no guarantee of drying the tent out before leaving the next day) that tends to be tough work, and something I generally try to avoid where ever possible. In this case, we managed to avoid camping in the rain by availing ourselves of the services of a “Rider’s House”. Riders’ houses are small, cheap accommodations, at the most charging 1,000yen per person for a night, and are specifically aimed at non-automobile travelers (motorcyclists, bicyclists, walkers etc). Some are even free. Ours was 1000yen, and included a free drive to the local onsen, and cheap meals. We even got our own room to ourselves (usually you’re sharing a room with multiple others).
They are a great place to meet interesting characters. One guy was traveling around taking photos. He spent about 45 minutes showing us his photos. They were actually very good.
Route Map
Distance: 44.2km | Time on bikes: 2h 47m | Average speed: 15.8km/h | Bears: 0
Financials: Food:Â 6,231yen | Accommodation:Â 2,000yen | Onsen: 400yen
August 8th, 2012 | categorizilation: all categories,Hokkaido (Japan),Japan,Post-2008,Shiretoko Tour (2012)
Odaito is well known for its sunrises. This was the best this morning’s one could muster.
It is worth noting that the sun rises at 4am at this time of the year. Which means that for cycling, we’re on the road by around 5:30am. So that means breakfast at 5am, second breakfast at 9am, lunch at noon, and dinner at 5pm, with bedtime at around 7:30pm.
In any case, much of today’s scenery reminded us a lot of the Taranaki region in the North Island of New Zealand. Lots of dairy farms. And, with so much of the year shrouded in winter, this time of year is prime grass-growing time.
And while we didn’t see any cows on the road, signs warned us to keep an eye out.
Our campsite for tonight was the very well appointed Nijibetsu Auto Camp. The plan was to camp. But it was raining. So we got a bungalo instead. We felt all very colonial.
Dinner was a little different this time. Vegetarian curry. It was my turn to cook. And to try to look staunch whilst doing so.
Route Map
Distance: 61km | Time on bikes: 4h 00m | Average speed: 15.2km/h | Bears: 0
Financials: Food:Â 5,676yen | Accommodation:Â 3,150yen | Laundry: 400yen
August 7th, 2012 | categorizilation: all categories,Hokkaido (Japan),Japan,Post-2008,Shiretoko Tour (2012)
Another of our ‘rest’ days. This time we got an early ferry to Notsuke Peninsula, and cycled back around to Odaito.
We were the only passengers on the ferry, so we had our very own personal guide. The ferry ride takes 30 minutes, but that includes a 5 minute stop half way, to have a gander at spotted seals. They were indeed there today. Spots and all.
Once at the peninsula (or, rather, gigantic sand-spit), with my nice fat 60mm tyres, I had a wee cycle along the beach. Haidee, with her skinny 25mm tyres, walked.
The beach only lasted about 500m, after which there was boardwalk. Today’s beautiful blue skies made up somewhat for the rainy and cloudy weather of previous days.
Wild flowers are the name of the game here. In particular, Irises seemed to be in full bloom at this time of year.
Notsuke Peninsula also happens to be a perfect vantage to gaze upon the long-lost Kuril Islands, or at least the southern-most of the islands, Kunashiri Island (Kunashir in Russian). Basically, the islands, which were originally Japanese, but were occupied by Soviet forces at the end of World War II, are presently claimed by Russia. The Japanese government disputes this claim. More on Wikipedia here:Â http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kuril_Islands_dispute.
Sentiment in Hokkaido in general and in this area in particular seems quite strong that the islands should be returned to Japan. The text in red in the sign above says “Islands 16km away; so close yet so far”.
The wind was at our backs as we pedaled our way back to our campsite. Dinner was a fairly standard fare of fried onion, garlic, and mushrooms mixed with a tomato pasta sauce to make some nice vegetarian pasta.
The nearby Seaview Hotel has an onsen for 500yen per person, so, like last night, we dropped by later on for a soak.
Route Map
Distance: 35.8km | Time on bikes: 2h 34m | Average speed: 13.9km/h | Bears: 0
Financials: Food:Â 3,809yen | Accommodation:Â 700yen | Onsen (hotspring):Â 1,000yen | Ferry ride: 3,200yen
August 6th, 2012 | categorizilation: all categories,Hokkaido (Japan),Japan,Post-2008,Shiretoko Tour (2012)
They have some very large horses in this part of Hokkaido. They are shorter than Clydesdales, but have hooves about the same size.
Kelp seems to be a large part of the economy here. Huge sheets of it are harvested by chaps on boats, and then hung to dry in large forced-air drying sheds. The guy below said that the dried kelp is sold all over Japan. Kelp of this thickness is used mostly for soup and sauce stock in Japan. It sort of acts like MSG; brings out the flavor of foods more.
For lunches on this trip, we were mostly eating out. Most meals are below 1,000yen, but for a large bowl of ‘kaisen-don’ (a bowl of rice topped with raw fish) at this nice place, they were charging 1,250yen. You’d easily pay 2,000yen for something equivalent in big-city Sapporo. I would have taken a photo of it, but alas my appetite had other ideas.
Despite an interesting start to the day, much of the cycling approaching our campsite (the Fureai Campsite in Odaito) was quite dull, in my opinion. The campsite made up for it though. Right on the seafront, it was.
Route Map
Distance: 59.8km | Time on bikes: 4h 02m | Average speed: 14.7km/h | Bears: 0
Financials: Food:Â 6,039yen | Accommodation:Â 700yen | Onsen (hotspring):Â 1,000yen | Laundry: 400yen
August 5th, 2012 | categorizilation: all categories,Hokkaido (Japan),Japan,Post-2008,Shiretoko Tour (2012)
Today it was raining when we got up.
It was still raining after about a 2 hour climb up Shiretoko Pass (739m, starting at sea level).
Incredulously, Haidee seemed still in a decent mood.
Although, this may have had something to do with the promise of a dry room when we arrived in Rausu, rather than a soggy campsite (as was the original plan…well, at least, the original plan was for a nice dry campsite opposite a free onsen…but sometimes the weather plays foul).
After a very chilly descent back down to sea level, we ended up at a dingy old ryokan (an old-style Japanese inn) for the night. They did a special deal for us: 7,000yen for the room. The only redeeming feature of the place was the attached natural onsen. Which was dilapidated (like the rest of the ryokan), but hot and good for tired muscles and frazzled nerves.
Route map
Distance: 33.6km | Time on bikes: 2h 59m | Average speed: 11.2km/h | Bears: 0
Financials: Food:Â 4,600yen | Accommodation:Â 7,000yen | Onsen (hotspring):Â 0yen
August 4th, 2012 | categorizilation: all categories,Hokkaido (Japan),Japan,Post-2008,Shiretoko Tour (2012)
Today was supposed to be a ‘rest’ day. Instead we cycled a 30km round-trip to see the famous Five Lakes, right in the heart of Shiretoko National Park. The climb up to the lakes was truly stunning. Wild flowers, and ancient-looking forest. All with the excitement that you might be attacked and torn to pieces by a bear at any moment.
Just to do the 1.5 hour walk, visitors have to take part in a 10 minute lecture on what to do to avoid encounters with grizzly bears, and what to do if you manage to encounter one. The advice taken most to heart, apparently, was to avoid encounters by making noise, such as clapping. For the first five minutes or so of the walk, therefore, you’d hardly know whether you were in a peaceful national forest, or a pentecostal church worship service. Luckily for us, the group quickly dispersed along the track, with us taking up the rear. We were mostly content with Haidee’s dinging bear-bell. This allowed us to enjoy the lakes more or less in peace and quiet.
Route Map
Distance: about 30km | Time on bikes: | Average speed: | Bears: 0
Financials: Food:Â 4,623yen | Accommodation:Â 800yen | Onsen (hotspring):Â 1000yen
August 3rd, 2012 | categorizilation: all categories,Hokkaido (Japan),Japan,Post-2008,Shiretoko Tour (2012)
The day began today also on nice quiet farming roads. Fields of potatoes, mainly. With some daikon (large white Japanese radish).
We did manage to avoid the narrow bit of Route 334, but at the cost of some steep hills. Good for the soul. Like chicken soup, only less comforting. And despite the cold start in the morning, it was getting very hot later in the day. Perfect excuse to drop into a cafe (read: smokey old-style Japanese coffee bar) for some iced coffee and cake. The cake is ‘rare cheese cake’.
Quite unlike much of the Japanese coastline, the coast of Shiretoko Peninsula seems relatively untouched. Nice sweeping vistas and unrestrained waterfalls. It is worth noting that today was one of the few days on this trip we had blue skies.
Our campsite for tonight was at the Shiretoko Campground in Utoro. It comes complete with wild deer who wander freely through the campground. We apparently set up our tent right next to where a family of deer bunk down for the night; even so, with all the warnings about storing food away from one’s tent during the night (to avoid encounters with bears), it was quite disconcerting to hear the dear pacing about outside at night.
Route Map
Distance: 40.1km | Time on bikes:Â 2h 56m | Average speed: 13.6km/h | Bears: 0
Financials: Food:Â 3,723yen | Accommodation:Â 800yen | Onsen (hotspring):Â 1500yen
August 1st, 2012 | categorizilation: all categories,Hokkaido (Japan),Japan,Post-2008,Shiretoko Tour (2012)
The Shiretoko region in eastern Hokkaido is home to more grizzly bears per square kilometer than anywhere in Japan. It therefore seemed like the sensible thing to go there and cycle around for a couple of weeks, camping along the way. It was summer vacation here, after all.
So Haidee and I bundled up our bicycles onto the train in Sapporo, and got on an early train bound for Abashiri. About 400km east of Sapporo, on the northern sea coast. It was about 30 degrees Celsius when we left Sapporo. It was about 15 degrees in Abashiri when we arrived 5 hours later at noon. Our expectations of a hot and sweaty two week tour suddenly seemed extremely silly. Haidee was kicking herself for not bringing that extra merino wool longsleeve top.
It was also raining. The idea for this trip was to relax. So we checked into a swanky hotel right in front of the train station (for a very reasonable 3,500yen each), and spent the first night in comfort.
Route Map (by train)
