MudNCrud Forums
Out'n about... just not Climbing => Biking => Topic started by: NOAL on October 02, 2023, 08:09:33 PM
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I can't pinpoint the exact moment when I came up with the notion, or what exactly sparked the idea to take a small bike tour of Hokkaido Japan. Most likely I saw something on a website I found called Hokkaido Wilds.https://hokkaidowilds.org/ (https://hokkaidowilds.org/) However it happened Hokkaido seemed like a great place for a first bike packing adventure for a number of reasons. Camping is easy. It is acceptable to camp in public parks, beside shrines, or even schools. If you do find a campground there will be very few campers, they usually cost under $10 , have showers, and sometimes laundry! There is also little to no crime in Japan so no need to worry about having your bike stolen.
Sounded like a great idea when I first started thinking about it a couple of years ago at the beginning of the pandemic. The problem was the pandemic. Japan remained totally closed to outsiders until this past April. Around June I made the decision to start preparing for the trip. I found a flight from SFO to Sapporo with a connecting flight and four hour layover in Taipei on China Airlines. it was a good deal around $1150 so I pulled the trigger.
To prepare for the trip I started riding the bicycle everyday with the packs on. As I started to get into better shape I added more water, camping equipment, etc. Here's what the bike looks like with packs on.
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i also had to pack the bike for transport on the airplane. A week or so before the trip I got an empty bike box from a local bike shop, partly disassembled the bike, packed it up and it was ready to go.
Here's the bike in the box after I picked it up from oversized baggage in SFO when I got back. It's kind of a weird feeling putting your bike in a cardboard box knowing thatTSA is going to most likely unpack and repack it but it turned out to be O.K. and I felt more comfortable with it by the end of the trip.
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I chose my route for this trip based on the weather forecast (some days with rain and thunderstorms) and that the leaves had not started to change yet. I would be riding from New Chitose airport down the Southern Peninsula of Hokkaido to the city of Hakkodate and then returning to the airport by three hour train ride. The total mileage in riding was about 360 miles which broke down to 50 or so miles a day. 50 miles a day for bike trip is good because it allows for time to site see, take photos, and get to a town or campground before dark.
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To be continued?
My first question is are you there now or have you been and come back?
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My first question is are you there now or have you been and come back?
I looked at your photos (the extra ones shown through the links). They're dated "October 3, 2023." It's still October 2 in California. I think you're there right now.
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OK great that first section was a test to see if the photos posted up.
Day One:
I arrived at New Chitose Airport in Sapporo around 3 in the afternoon. The airport has a hotel (with onsen hot spring) in the domestic terminal. I opted to stay there because otherwise I would have had to either assemble the bicycle in the airport or take it on a train to Sapporo. Staying at the airport turned out to be great. The staff also offered to hold onto the box for me if I booked another night before my return flight. This does not seem like a big deal but it is a major time saver. Throwing something away like a bike box and packing material is not an easy task in Japan (we will get to garbage an recycling later) and having to find another bike box in Sapporo without a car would also be no fun.
Grabbed some food and a couple of tall cans of Sapporo from the Lawson convenience store in the airport, went back to the room, wrenched on the bike and watched some Sumo wrestling.
Day 2
Woke up a grabbed the free breakfast at the hotel. It was buffet style. 1/2 Western and 1/2 Japanese food. Pretty good.
The weather forecast had rain so I decided to hit the road around 7. The first section of riding was to Lake Shikotsu in Shikotsu-Toya National Park. The countryside starts only about a 10 minute ride out of Chitose. I think it is about 20 miles or so to the lake which was a gradual climb on a bike path almost the whole way!
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You can ride all around the park on bike paths and there is even a campground if you want to camp. I did not see another person on the bike trail the whole day.
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I chose to ride the across the bottom of the lake toward Mt. Yotei. Nice ride in the woods with views of the lake here and there.
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After an hour or so I encountered my first tunnel of the trip. ( little did I know how many tunnels there were to be) This tunnel marked the beginning of a climb up and out of the National Park and also the end of the sweet bike path. The climb was not too bad maybe a 6% grade with short sections of 8%. Most of the riding was next to one of the rivers feeding the lake. At the top of the pass there is an observation platform. There was no one here. O.K. I'll just go ahead and say from here on out there was never any one at any site seeing spot except me. Also, no one spoke English and I did not see any other Westerners.
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You can barely see the lake way in the distance.
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The observation deck was not the true top of the pass. There was still a long tunnel to get through. This tunnel was the first "scary tunnel" i encountered on the trip. The scary part is there is no shoulder and the tunnel is not very wide. This particular tunnel was also uphill and maybe a few kilometers long. It is crucial to have lights on the rear and front of the bike. Front to make sure no one tries to pass another car in the tunnel and has a head on collision with you. More tunnel talk later.
After getting through the tunnel it was a long fun descent down a meander mountain grade which deposited me in flat farmland. Consulting the map it looked like the next town with camping possibilities would be Kimobetsu. Just outside of town there is a very nice Shinto shrine.
Steps up to shrine
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This was a very nice shrine. It appeared that the town had recently done some major renovations. Almost every town has a shrine. Then there are also shrines at places in nature like mountains, the ocean etc. Unfortunately they are almost always locked. There were a few instances where the front door was open so you
could view the interior but not enter. I will not go into deep detail here about Shintoism but basically the shrines are a place to purify yourself and they often have connections to nature.
Not much in Kimobetsu. A small town next to a river. Only one restaurant with a specialty dish of Venison Curry. Sounded pretty good but first I need to locate the campsite. On the map there was a campground a few kilometers out of town. Turned out it was some farmers who had converted part of the farm to campsites. The sites were all set up for car camping so the owner let me stay in a field for free when he saw I was riding a bike. Pretty nice campground. I set up my tent and headed back into town to grab some of that curry! To my surprise the curry shop closed at 5pm. This would be the first of weird hours that restaurants kept in the area. Oh well, I guess I would have to hit the Lawson convenience store.
Convenience store food in Japan is remarkably good. This particular one was a Lawson. There is also Seico Mart, Family Mart, and 7 eleven. Lawson and Seico Mart usually have an extensive offering of hot food which is on par with most food you get at a Japanese restaurant in the U.S. Things like fried croquettes with meat , mashed potatos, and curry fillings. There are also prepared bento boxes, noodle dishes , tons of pastries, katsu sandwiches, buns with meat or bean fillings you name it. All super cheap and quality. I ate a ton of Onigiri while riding the bike. In fact, i renamed the gas tank pack the onigiri tank. Onigiri is a rice ball with a filling of salmon, tuna and mayo, plum, etc wrapped in seaweed. After the exchange rate they are about 50 cents. For dinner I opted to go with a hamburger steak bento with rice. By the time I got back to camp it had started to rain. Ate dinner in the tent and went to sleep. It rained all night and was humid.
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Day 3
Woke up at 6. I discovered on the trip that people generally are all awake at 6 a.m. There is sometimes music that is played through a loudspeaker in towns for when to wake up, when to eat lunch 12, and the end of the day 6pm. The end of the day can be accompanied by brief news.
It was really overcast so I had to pack up the tent wet and get on the road. The campground I stayed at was on the Eastern side of Mt Yotei. I could barely see it the night before through the fog and mist. By the time I got to the side with the park entrance things cleared up and I could see the mountain. It's kind of like a mini Mt Fuji. In fact, it's top is capped with snow in the winter and spring. No snow in the summer.
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I decided to take a ride up to the trailhead. It was a pretty steep hill climb for about a mile. One last section was over 12% and I had to get off and push. I was rewarded with finding a very large campground with maybe 75 campsites. Only 3 were occupied. There was also an unmanned visitor center open 24 hours. It had pay showers which I gladly took advantage of. I was toying with the idea of hiking to the summit but there was lightning in the forecast. It was nice to just take a break after a shower, grab a drink from the vending machine and look at the mountain.
Campground
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Mt Yotei Shrine
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The next town from here was Niseko. Niseko from what I could tell is a major skiing resort town. The riding just past the town all the way to the coast looked good from the map. Twisting mountain roads with climbing for miles. Just as I started the climbing the rain started. Took a break at the 7 Eleven and grabbed a couple of sandwiches. Shrimp cutlet one was memorable. After a few kilometers I was out of the town and the weather turned into a full on thunder storm. The temp was in the low 70's so at least it was not cold. Just before the summit I found an amazing sulfurous hot spring with pale blue water. No people. There was also a closed campground and a closed Onsen resort.
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View of the next town Iwanai
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Top of the pass before descending into town
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The rain stopped as soon as I reached the other side of the mountain and before I knew it I had arrived at the coastal town of Iwanai. After spending all day in the rain I thought I would try my luck staying at a hot spring resort. There were two on the map and I figured it was during the week and would not be that busy. I got to the onsen and used google translate to ask for a room. Turns out that weekdays are indeed slow. So slow that they give the chef Monday-Wednesday off. I could stay but no food. Town was not that far away but the hill climb back to the onsen in the mountains was not trivial. The onsen desk clerk was really tickled that I was riding a bicycle. He just kept saying "Bicycle...Bicycle.....Bicycle....." 20 or so times and shaking his head. This would turn out to be a common reaction from people in the area. Once I told them I was from California and was riding my bicycle they would just say "why? why here?" and laugh. This guy turned out to be nice and callled his friend at town at a business man hotel and had them hold a room for me.
There was a camp ground just outside of town but when I saw the location the next day I realized staying at the business man hotel was a wise decision. When I got to the hotel they let me put my bike in a shed out back where they keep tools and stuff. Turned out to be a nice hotel. Very small rooms but very clean. I took a nap and then went for a walk around town.
town shrine
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Iwanai is a pretty sizeable town. There is a center of town that shows many restaurants but many of them had strange hours or were only open on the weekends. Ended up finding a small sushi restaurant run by a elderly husband and wife. Watched some more sumo wrestling on the TV.
After sunset I went back to the hotel and did some laundry. Laundry machines were great. You don't need to bring detergent. There is a button with an option to have the washer dispense it. They also have a separate machine for shoes with a microwave looking compartment in top with posts for drying.
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Kicked it in the business man hotel the rest of the night. Grabbed a couple of Sapporo tall boys from the vending machine in the lobby and watched some more sumo and another show where people had to eat strange recipes.
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I got back last week. I'm slow posting stuff like this. Another installment or two tomorrow night.
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I think he might be punking us :yesnod: :thumbup: :lol:
Leave it to NOAL (brilliant freakin' idea)
I think this deserves some kind of award. Sneaker Award perhaps?
I've always been told Japan is a wonderful place to visit.
My dad went there on business a couple times in 1969.
There were some wonderful slides from his trips but they somehow got tossed when our old house got cleaned out.
I thought my sister might have kept them but we never found them.
I might have a few old photos. I do remember the businessman hotel he stayed at had a bath house with geisha girls.
No one knew what sushi was back then.
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I was wrong about the year. I only have a couple photos from Japan and they are 1966. I know he went to Hong Kong (the slides) and also to Taiwan and the Phillipines (also in the photo album along with one picture of him at the Red China border.
Not meaning to take anything away from NOAL's post - I think your trip is amazing dude!
Overlooking the North China Sea
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On the world's fastest train - the Tokida
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At the businessman hotel in Kinosaki Japan - check out that spread!
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Nice photos JC. The last one looks like he is staying at a Japanese ryokan or inn. They are both wearing yukatas or robes that are given to guests to wear during their stay. I will get to ryokans later in the TR. There are not geishas at ryokans. Just a server who serves you in your room. That is what appears to be going on in your photo.
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I do remember the businessman hotel he stayed at had a bath house with geisha girls.
He probably didn't tell me that - just the musings of a 7 year old
I guess they didn't let you ring the Bonshō :nono: :frown2:
I was surprised the last camp site looked unappealing since everything else looks so nice.
I just read onsen etiquette. Interesting.
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I guess they didn't let you ring the Bonshō
i rang it. It's totally fine.
I was surprised the last camp site looked unappealing since everything else looks so nice.
I should have just pushed on to the Mt. Yotei National Park campground. The farmers were nice.
I just read onsen etiquette. Interesting.
It is very interesting. There are different kinds of onsens ranging from resort hotel types, very traditional inns, onsens with no lodging that serve as public baths etc. The public bath house and onsens are important in Japanese culture. Hokkaido has a lot of volcanic activity so pretty much everywhere there is a town there is a hot spring.
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i rang it. It's totally fine.
Hokkaido has a lot of volcanic activity so pretty much everywhere there is a town there is a hot spring.
That's cool. I wonder how much that thing weighs and what it sounds like. I am imagining a very peaceful tone.
Lack of volcanic activity should not be a problem on any of Japan's islands.
Super interesting geology - a volcanic island arc/subduction zone.
We should never be surprised when Japan has HUGE earthquakes.
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Day 3 Iwanai to Setana 80miles
Woke up at 5:30 again and was on the road by 6. Stopped by the Seico Mart to pick up some food for the day. When I was coming out of the shop I heard some music that sounded similar to a Mister Softee truck. Turned out to be a garbage truck. They even have cartoon characters on the side.
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Stocked up on food it was time to hit the road. Just as reached the edge of town and there were less buildings it became apparent that I would be dealing with a very strong head wind for much of the day.
White caps = Strong Wind
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Crossing the river leaving Iwanai. The mountain in the background is the one I rode over the day before.
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The whole coast from here to Hakodate is fishing villages. There were thousands of houses some old and well kept, some abandoned and falling down, some
new. The one common thing was they all had small boats. Then every so often there would be a large commercial fishing facility. Here's some buildings just outside of town
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About 15 minutes out of town was another tunnel. This one was the type that has no shoulder. Being new to the tunnel game i neglected to note the length in meters that is posted at it's entrance. Later after i figured this out I would have a snack, pee, etc if I knew I would be underground for a long time. This one was long. Like longer than both spans of the Bay Bridge. There was also construction going on in various parts which means that only one lane functions. There is a signal guy and you have to wait for the cars from the other direction. Bicycle goes last.
Pull out in tunnel
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Construction in the tunnel
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This tunnel is where I had one of the scariest moments of the trip. I could see a semi approaching me in the opposite lane. Suddenly another semi decided to pass. I had just enough time to jump off the bike and up on to the 18" of curb. I put the back wheel behind my legs and slammed myself and the bike against the wall seconds before both trucks passed me in both lanes. Yikes!
Here's the other side of the tunnel. To the left of it was a small park with a gazebo type structure. This was the campground marked on the map. It would have been super windy. No facilities and no water. Not to mention there was another stretch of tunnel that started up 500 ft down the road. I was glad I did not opt to camp there.
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The majority of the ride consisted of beautiful seascapes, and many many tunnels. Here and there were small waterfalls into the sea.
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After a couple of hours I reached Cape Benkei where there is a large statue of Benkei the Warrior Monk. This guy was a bad ass that lived about a 1000 years ago. He was supposed to 6' 6" which for back then in Japan meant he was a giant. Hit him up on the ole Wikipedia. Its a pretty good read.
There is also a lighthouse at the cape (which I forgot to take a photo of somehow) and a building that has art from local residents. It is with a vending machine inside so you can have a coffee while you look at the art. There were some nice photos of the Benkei statue taken by different photographers. Cool place.
Benkei
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seaside art gallery
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The seascapes here are right up there with anything you would see on highway 1 in California. Maybe I have just seen the Mendocino Coast, Point Reyes, Big Sur etc so many times that seeing something new made an impression on me. At any rate the coast here was jaw dropping. The further I rode South the ocean became more clear and a bright Azure blue. Spectacular.
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Another tunnel
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A short tunnel (sorry a little blurry)
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Around 4 o clock I arrived in the city of Setana. The cities on the coast were very sleepy. There were a lot of abandoned store fronts and very few people out on the street. It was still pretty windy out. The previous night's lodgings after the exchange rate came out to a whopping $40. The prospect of a clean bed a shower etc was tempting so I decided to hit up the Google maps to see there were any business hotels here. Nope. There were about 4 places marked as inns. I found the first two addresses but there were no signs on the door and they did not appear to me at the time to be lodging. In hind sight they most likely were but I did have the balls yet to go knocking on the door.
The third place I found looked more inn like. I poked my head in the door and the set up was more familiar. There was a big genkan or area where you take off your shoes, a lot of shoes, and a check in window. There were also a lot of kids running around and toys everywhere. I said hi to one of the kids and he went in the other room to grab his dad who was the innkeeper. We did some Google translating back and forth, log books were consulted, heads were scratched, numbers crunched and the inn keeper came up with the figure of 11,000 yen for the night including dinner and breakfast. After the exchange rate about $70. I said great and he gave me a tour.
Most of the places I stayed tried to make it clear to me upfront the differences between a Japanese Inn and a Western hotel. Not trying to discourage but just to make sure I would be satisfied with the stay. Like pointing at me and gesturing sleep on floor. O.K.? This inn was the most basic of the 3 i stayed at on the trip. Nice and clean but definitely no frills. All of the bathrooms were shared and there was a shared bathing area set up like an onsen where you cleaned off and there was a bath you could sit in. I don't think it was fed by a hot spring. All of the guests were served dinner and breakfast downstairs. I asked the owner what I should do with my bike. He said just leave it in the genkan or entryway. This would be the answer for the rest of the trip.
upstairs at the inn
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basic room with tatami mats
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futon laid out for bed
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There is also a tiny TV if you want to watch some sumo wrestling.
I went down for dinner at 6 and it became more clear the specific function of the Inn. When you stay at a Ryoken you do not get to choose what you eat. If the meal is not served in your room it is usually all on the table when you arrive in the dining area That was case here. I was seated at a table with an elderly gentleman. All of the other guests were seated on the floor at low tables It was all men. No women. Then I realized that patrons were all construction workers, forestry service people, maybe the guys working in the tunnels. This particular Inn was a working man's Inn.
The food was super good. Grilled cod, deep fried squid sticks, octopus and tuna sashimi, a spicy Korean style pork and bean sprout dish, pickled daikon, lotus root salad, rice and miso soup. I regret not taking photos but the old guy across the table was already staring at me.
After dinner watched some volleyball on TV and went to bed.
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WOW - what a great trip so far! I'm ready to read the next day's adventure.
Awesome pics - can't imagine how you felt in the tunnel with the 2 semis - YIKES!!! Glad nothing happened.
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Day 4 Setana to Otobe 56 miles
Breakfast at the inn is served at 7am. Same deal as the night before. Come downstairs and the food is sitting on the table. This was the first complete Japanese breakfast I had on the trip and it was good. It also contained the one thing that I was not able to eat but I did get down half. Natto also called fermented soybeans. I had tried Natto in SF about 15 years ago and could not do it then. I thought maybe this natto is better. Nope. Same. These fermented soybeans have a snot like slime holding them together. I watched as the construction workers dump the whole container into a bowl of rice pour a healthy amount of shoyu (soy sauce) on top and devour it in 30 seconds with gusto. I thought I can do at least half of that so monkey see monkey had a hard hard time. My rice bowl was now contaminated and I had to eat all the contents so it would not affect the rest of my breakfast. The best description for natto is hot garbage.
I ate everything else on the trip. Sometimes i ate things and had to ask what I ate later. Those questions were sometimes answered and in some cases I still dont know what it was. Sometimes I was told later what it was and if I was told before hand I would have entered the experience biased. The rest of breakfast was excellent. Grilled Salmon, nori strips, a block of tofu with bonito, hard boiled egg, miso soup, rice , small salad, and.....that natto.
After breakfast had a small pantomime/google translate/my very limited Japanese chat with the inn keeper. Turns out he has a sister that went to school in the Bay Area. I showed him some photos of the beaches near Half Moon Bay and we had a good laugh about how I traveled half way around the world to ride my bike to something that looks like home. After saying good bye it was time to hit the road.
The main highway 229 at Setana heads inland and the coastal road 740 narrows down and passes through Karibamotsutadoritsu Natural Park. Phew thats a mouthful. Truthfully I had to copy and paste that in there. This stretch of highway contained the best scenery of the trip and the most amazing shrine that I unexpectedly happened upon.
Futorobentensha Shrine
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Of course there were more tunnels
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That last photo of the tunnel is good because next to the entrance you can see how they have the hillside contained so it will not slide down and block the entrance, It is hard to imagine all these areas covered in snow but for most of the year they are. Japan does a great job with infrastructure. Instead of building roads over mountains or on the sides of cliffs that will get washed out they just go straight through the mountain. There are also long sections of road that are covered to protect from avalanches and big structures that block snow drifts. The roads are also in primo condition. No potholes etc. There were people out on the road working on the bridges and tunnels everyday I rode.
By this point I had seen a lot of shrines. I have only posted a few of them here and there were dozens that I did not even stop to take photos of at all. With shrine fatigue set in I almost passed up one of the best parts of the whole trip.
Sometimes you cannot see the shrine from the road all you will see it a gate and a path or stairs leading somewhere. That was the case when I saw this:
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Hold up now those steps look real steep. Are those ropes on those steps? Yep. O.K. got to check that out.
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About 120 something steps. The photo does not reflect how steep these steps are in real life. If you fell down these steps you would die. Not a good place for a college student to live.
Then I saw this
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Interesting. The ropes continued up a sustained steep trail that involved climbing washed out root systems of trees. I was gaining quite a bit of elevation pretty fast
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next I came up on this and thought "nice shrine but no one would build that massive gate and steps for this"
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That's right because the ropes continued up hill
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The trail got even steeper. I would say the elevation gain with the mileage was similar to doing the approach to Higher Cathedral Spire. It was also extremely humid and about 80 degrees. I was sweating. 1/2 hour later I came up on this:
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Aha. Now where's the shrine? Pass through the gate and I see something
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Whoa.
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There were sections missing, loose parts, and it was hard to tell what exactly was holding the thing up. Onward.
Next
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Had to look at this for a bit and think about it. It was about 40 ft up a vertical wall that looked like 5.4 or so climbing to get into a cave where I could see a corner of the shrine peeking out. The drop below the face into a drainage gully that went to the sea was about 150 ft. If you fall you die. The rock was pretty good quality except it was dirty because everyone used the iron ladder rings. The rings looked O.K. but what were they attached to? There was also all of these ropes and cables that had been left over the years that would be very easy to get your foot tangled up in. i chose on the way up to just climb the rock which turned out to not be that bad.
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made it. This shrine's offerings were all alcohol themed. I just left some coins. Amazing view too.
sorry blurry
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amazing view
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now to get back down....To get down I opted to use half rock half iron rings. The rings were attached to posts at the top.
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Alright time to head back down to the bike. On the way down I saw an elderly man just past the first shrine. (O.K. i lied earlier. I did see somebody site seeing) He looked like he was in his 80's. He did not speak any English but gestured back and forth and from what I could gather he was climbing up to the cave. I noticed some locking carabiners on his pack so maybe a climber? Cool.
Back down at the road I could look up and see where the cliff is.
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Once I told them I was from California and was riding my bicycle they would just say "why? why here?" and laugh...
Exactly what I thought.
And yet this seems to have been one hell of a lot of fun. Good for you to just pick something so... random. And make it a ball.
J:C.: those photos of your dad. Wow.
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And yet this seems to have been one hell of a lot of fun. Good for you to just pick something so... random. And make it a ball.
It was fun! Not really as random as it seems. I have always wanted to visit Japan but when I was younger it was very expensive. The exchange rate at the moment makes it very affordable. It has been fluctuating between 143-150 yen to 1 dollar. Basically everything is 1/3 off.
I would like to visit all of the prefectures in Japan on the bike from top to bottom. Then after that or in between Taiwan.
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Great read and amazing trip but I can't figure out those rings/ropes. Is the one a bridge over water? (labeled "next")
Do you just climb on one set of the rings? (seems the most logical for something that looks crazy).
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The bridge looking thing is over a gully. The end of it is somehow attached to a cliff face. The iron rings are meant to climb like an aid ladder up to the shrine.
I forgot to put the name of the shrine. It is Otosan or in English father. It dates to 1454.
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I got back on the road and about an hour later it started to rain. Every evening I would check the weather for the next day and it would not mention rain but usually in the afternoon it would start up. I think the weather there is really unpredictable because it is humid and has all of these mountains next to the ocean. The next town I had my sites on was Jinyacho. There was a campground in town on a jetty island thing. Everything I read about it said things like "best campground ever" As much as I wanted to stay at the best campground ever I told myself if it was still raining when I got to the town before Jinyacho (Otobe) that I would just look for lodging. It was.
As some of you may already know I am not a huge fan of camping. Especially car camping. I don't mind it if say I am backpacking and I have no choice or if I was on the bike in the middle of the desert. When it's raining, super windy, humid, or mosquito season being confined to a tent sucks. I also never get good sleep in a tent.
So I found a 3 star onsen resort that had an available room. Being the off season the restaurant was not open. After the exchange rate it was $60. Not bad. They had a pretty good onsen with 2 outdoor baths and 2 indoor baths. All four were different temps.
Here's how the Onsen thing works. Most towns will have an onsen. There are also many onsens out in mountainous regions that are destinations upon themselves. Most of them allow you to use the facilites for a small fee even if you are not a guest of the resort or hotel. Sometimes there is a ticket machine in the lobby.
One side of the onsen is for women and one for men. Blue is men and red is women. If you are a guest there is usually a robe in your room that you can change into. There is also a towel and somewhat long washcloth. Usually the first thing you encounter inside is a bunch of baskets in cubby holes.
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Put your clothes, towel, slippers etc in the basket. In this room there is usually mirrors, hairdryers, sometimes a washing machine, cold drinking water, a scale. This is for later. If you have valuables or your room key there is a set of small lockers with a key you can keep on a wristband.
O.K. now you are butt ass nekkid with nothing but a wash cloth. You can hold the wash in front of your junk if you are modest or just let it all hang out. Head on into the bathing area. There are stations here with stools and plastic bowls or sometimes in the nicer joints a wooden bucket. Sometimes the stools and buckets are in middle of the room and you have to take one to your station. At the station there is a soap dispenser, shampoo dispenser, and maybe conditioner? So sit down on the little stool and start washing. You can use the the shower head on a cord and for a good rinse there is a faucet to fill up the bucket to dump over your head. Make sure you get all the soap off your body. Getting in the bath with soap or shampoo is super bad form.
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Now take the washcloth and fold it into a square and put it on top of your head. Pick a bath to your liking and get in with the other dudes. It is totally acceptable to make old man groaning sounds, sharp breathing noises, or maybe a ahhh when getting in the water. Sometimes it's super hot so you gotta ease in there. There's usually a step you can sit on to get half your body in and then sink in all the way up to the neck. The real badasses just get in all the way to neck from the start. If you do this you definitely got to make some kind of grunting noise or a loud exhale.
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Do not put your washcloth in the bath. That's why it's on your head. It's acceptable to wipe your face with it while in the bath. There is usually a super hot bath, a warm bath, and a coldish one. The coldish one sometimes has a ladle next to it. This is for rinsing off before you go back to the hairdryer room. So when you have had enough rinse off and use the washcloth to get as much excess water off your body as you can. Head on back to the hairdryer room. If you got hair you can dry it. Sometimes in some more fancy resort places they might have a little cooler with popsicles in it. I did not encounter any of those. Usually there's a vending machine with tall boys of beer and other adult beverages in a can. Highball whisky soda in a can, lemon cocktail drink, etc. Grab something or two here and head back to the room to watch Sumo wrestling.
After i did the onsen it was time to find dinner because the hotel had nothing. Otobe only had two restaurants. I picked Cafe Nodoka. Looked pretty good a cross between Italian and Japanese food. Pasta with seafood etc. It was also only two blocks from the hotel.
The cafe turned out to be super fun. There are three women working there that were around sixty years old that appeared to be friends. I kind of got the vibe that working at the cafe for them was a way to get out of the house and be social with each other. When I came in they all came out and we used google translate to ask each other questions. They told me about their families, suggestions for local site seeing, what living in Otobe is like during the winter etc. We had a lot of fun and laughed a lot.
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The food was also really good! I opted to go for something hearty and got omu rice (egg over rice) tonkatsu (deep fried pork cutlet) and beef curry. Top notch.
Also hanging out I had a couple of beers. Everytime you order a drink they bring you a little snack with it. First I got a small seafood salad and next an assortment of squares of cheese. Because they liked talking to me I got a third snack. This snack looked little deep fried nuggets of something. As we were talking i was munching on them. They were good crunchy on the outside and a little soft inside. After a few I asked what they were. Deep fried pork intestines. Hey, not something I normally eat but now would definitely repeat.
I said my goodbyes and made Instagram friends with Michiko. She made some helpful suggestions for what to do for the last few days of the ride.
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Back at the hotel watched some TV and then turned in.
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Day 5 Otobe to Matsumae 54 miles
Woke up around 6. Forgot to mention that the desk clerk at the hotel let me park the bike in the lobby. Headed out and stopped like usual at the convenience store to stock up on snacks. The weather was already looking good and today would turn out to be the best day weather wise of the trip. Today's ride would be to Matsumae a town that has a castle from the 1400's.
Hokkaido as a whole does not have a long Japanese history. Most of the Eastern and Northern parts have only been settled by the Japanese since the late 1800's. Before the Japanese settled on the farther reaches of the island it was inhabited by the indigenous people called Ainu. Part of my original route had more Ainu tribe destinations. Maybe next time. The peninsula that I was riding on this trip has been inhabited by the Japanese back to the 1400's so it is possible to see old things. I was excited about seeing the castle
more beautiful coastline
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hints of history
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old buildings with rocks on the roof
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more amazing shrines
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and road houses
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This was the first road house that I stopped at on the trip. What is a road house? I guess the closest thing we have here is a rest area. If you have a van or an RV it is totally acceptable to park in the roadhouse parking lot for the night. There is a restroom, vending machines, and in the daytime a shop/visitor center. Here's the clincher. There is no trash cans, and there is no recycling, there is also no litter in sight. There are also no people abusing the system and camped out for days on end. People park for the night and move on.
Inside the Roadhouses could be different things. This particular morining they were holding a kind of swap meet for people to trade or buy flowers they grew. Really nice all these old ladies with buckets of flowers socializing and doing a side hustle. There is usually also a restaurant. This one opened at 11 so I was too early. It looked good. All kaisen don bowls. Sashimi and raw seafood over rice. There was also a wide variety of produce to buy grown by local farmers and a snack bar that had potato croquettes and soft serve ice cream. I got some croquettes and grabbed a banana coffee milk from the vending machine. Sounds weird but it was good.
Let's talk about vending machines for a minute. Drink vending machines were everywhere. I never had to worry about water because every 10 minutes there would be one. Here's the catch. Once you buy a drink from the vending machine you own the bottle. There was never a vending machine with a recycling can or a garbage can near it yet there no bottles or cans on the ground anywhere in sight. You are expected to be responsible, take the bottle home and put it in the recycling. There was absolutely no litter the entire trip. Like Switzerland no litter. This is why I left the bike box with the hotel. There are no public garbage cans. Citizens would never leave garbage on the street because it is not respectful to other people and as a society everyone is onboard. No one is the exception to the rule.
inside the roadhouse
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Back on the road tunnels turned to bridges in this area. Here's a fishing village from above
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Oshima island in the distance
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nice spot to eat a sandwich
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I made it to Matsumae by about 2pm which was perfect. This town was my favorite town of the whole trip. There was something about it that really resonated with me. If someone had said to me you can give everything up at home and live here for the rest of your life I would have said yes. If someone knocked on the door right now with the same offer I would say yes. Loved it!
Intersection at the onsen and castle
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At this point I had given up camping. Between here and Hakkodate would be the more traditional Ryokan Inns. One of my main objectives of the trip was to stay at top Ryokans at least a couple of times. The one I ended up staying at was Onsen Ryoken Yano. It is right next to the castle. I went in and got a room no problem. The woman at the desk was super funny. We google translated back and forth a bit. She then went in the back and got the manager so he could get a look at me. They wanted to know since I was from SF did I know Shohei Ohtani? The manager got a look at the bike and busted up laughing. We were having a super good time. They said bring the bike in, take a look at the castle , come back around 3 and they would have a room ready for me. $76 dinner, breakfast, onsen!
bike in the lobby. Stayed there all night in the center of town not locked to anything.
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So i walked across the street and up the hill to the castle
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armor in the castle
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The tour of the castle itself was the 4 floors. They had a lot of cool artifacts, masks, Ainu artifacts, and historical paintings. Every thing was in Japanese and behind glass so it was a little hard to throw the google translate on all of it. Here's a few facts that I could gather. The current castle is the 6th version and it was rebuilt sometime after WW2. The original castle was back in the 1500's but it got raided and burned down and rebuilt numerous times. The treaties with the Ainu people were drawn up at the castle. The rebuild of the current castle was particularly intersting because it did not burn down. It just kind of fell apart.
During WW2 the Japanese decided to cover the castle in camoflauge netting so it would not be bombed by the U.S. forces. They did not remove the tarps and netting until after the war was over and by then moisture and mold had made the castle fall to pieces.
I was done looking at the castle so I decided to check out the castle grounds which were amazing. There were temples, a mansion, an old cemetary and cherry tree orchards. I did not get to see everything and I guess the grounds turn into a nature preserve with a hike up to a nearby peak. Later I was told that the castle ground has a lot of bears. The people at the hotel said they were afraid to go there by themselves. I noticed that many of the locals wore litlle bells.
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I wanted to spend more time walking around the castle grounds but it was time to check into the hotel. I got back and had some more laughs with the staff and then headed up to the room.
Genkan
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They were still doing COVID protocol so the futon was already put out for me. Usually they come in later in the evening after dinner and move the furniture and get the futon out of the closet for you. Dinner was also being served in the restaurant next door not in the room.
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There were not many guests and the staff like me so they gave me a room with a view of the castle
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Getting ready for bath time in the Yukata
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another view of the room with the altar
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Laughing hard at the start of this installment - going into the onsen - thank you :lol: :lol: :lol:
Sounds like you had a lot of fun with the locals.
The cemetery looks like it is all mausoleums. I'll have to look up Japanese burial.
I wasn't sure what the last photo of the castle grounds was supposed to show.
Did you try to tell them the bad joke about bear bells and identifying which type of scat is from bears?
Those towns, villages, landscapes and other sites look incredible - and I know pictures don't usually do things justice.
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wasn't sure what the last photo of the castle grounds was supposed to show.
Just how vibrant green the most covered ground was. There was a nice stream that ran through parts.
Did you try to tell them the bad joke about bear bells and identifying which type of scat is from bears?
I don't know that one. Everyone I met on the trip was really scared of bears even though most had never seen one. From what I gather they are black bears. Some residents said they were small and some said they were large but everyone definitely thought they were aggressive. I tried to tell them I have see 100s of bears in California and most of the time they just run away from you. I guess it's a good thing they don't interact at all with the bears. They also don't have garbage dumpsters etc outside so there's that too.
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Okay - thanks re the pic.
That bear paranoia seems unwarranted but maybe they are just super cautious. The old joke is - Do you know how to tell bear scat from other scat? Look for the bells.
Almost a dad joke (maybe worse).
A pointed stick perhaps?
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The old joke is - Do you know how to tell bear scat from other scat? Look for the bells.
Oh for God's sake, are you helpless?
The old joke is about Grizzlies and Alaska's back country. Training to go there involves learning to wear bells on one's collar or on a pack so as to give bears warning that one is around and thereby not surprising them. It also includes trying out various forms of pepper spray in case such a bear gets too close.
The instructor then asks the prospective traveler if they know how to recognize such a bear?
When the answer is "no," the traveler is told that one recognizes grizzlies by their poop... which contains lots of little bells and smells like pepper.
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I winced (of course) at the references to be being naked (spelled correctly, also of course) while being immersed in hot water. And that's not the first time this has happened on this site.
Have you given any thought to traveling with Clink? It might be a match made in heaven.
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Have you given any thought to traveling with Clink? It might be a match made in heaven.
Thanks for the laugh, but not the visual :P
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Oh for God's sake, are you helpless?
Nope - I just like to keep things simple.
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Got done using the bath around 430 and dinner would not be served until 6 so I decided to go for a little walk around town. here's some things I saw.
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At 6 I headed down to the restaurant next door for dinner. It was pretty funny because when I walked in the staff in the restaurant all stopped what they were doing looked at me and said something like "it's you". I guess they had been informed by the desk clerk about the owner of the crazy looking bike in the lobby. They must've drawn straws to see who got to be my server. The winner was in her early 20's and was super embarrassed and nervous but we ended up laughing a lot and things got a little more relaxed towards the end of dinner. Learning a little bit of Japanese is helpful if you go to Japan. Phrases like " What is this", " I really like this" " This is delicious" and of course Thank you, Please, I am sorry/ excuse me. Just a little goes a long way because people see you are making some kind of effort. It also helps to smile a lot and be conscious that you are playing on a different set of rules. It isn't Burger King, and you are not going to get it your way.
Dinner was excellent. It was a true Ryokan style dinner and for this one I actually took the time to write down afterwards what was served even though I forgot to take a photo of the second course. Usually when you come in or the server comes to the room they will have everything laid out for the first half of the meal. Then there is some kind of speciality dish with another small dish , miso soup, and a small dessert that is brought out for the second half. Miso soup opposite to Japanese restaurants in the U.S. is at the end.
First part of the meal
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I forgot to take a photo of the second half of dinner. The server came out with specialty dish and it was in a bowl. She put it on the table and it was some kind of soup. She then told me "Special local dish" and then used google translate to tell me it was whale soup.
It was pretty good. There were about 6 little jullianed pieces of whale with what appeared to be skin on the end and they were extremely chewy. The broth was tasty.
Here's all of what was served for dinner
First half
Tuna Sashimi
Kabocha (pumpkin gratin)
Whelk (sea snail)
Tofu and chicken meatball hot pot
Hot pot with fish
Abalone sashimi
Sea urchin chawanmushi (steamed egg custard in a small ceramic pot)
A couple of different kinds of seaweed salad
raw baby eels. These are in the very small dish to the right of the sea snail in the photo
various pickles
Second Half
Whale soup
Herring Soba cold buckwheat noodles in a dark sauce (this dish was also a special dish that originated from this area)
Fried rice
dessert
fruit
Fantastic meal!
At the end I made sure to tell the server she did a great job and everything was perfect and delicious. She was happy.
Headed back up to the room to grab some laundry to do while I hung out in the bath again. After my laundry was done all of the people who worked in the restaurant including my server were getting off work. They all said oyasumi nasai or goodnight and I went up to bed.
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I forgot to mention how much I laughed at the "old man noises" comment when you were talking about the onsen.
This latest installment I particularly liked the Burger King comment.
Is that shack being held together with ropes?
That stream and temple are gorgeous. Trees are cool too (exposed roots on the one and twists in the other).
Sounds like maybe the whale meat wasn't a hit? How was the snail? When I tried escargot it was way too chewy for me (which I also think means it was overcooked) - same with squid - I have only had it once where it was tender. From what I've read it sounds like it should either be cooked very little/seared or slow cooked for a long time at low temperature. I read about eating whale meat too and it sounds like it can be a delicacy if you get the right cut.
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I forgot to mention how much I laughed at the "old man noises" comment when you were talking about the onsen
It appears the big demographic for small town onsens is old men or maybe the majority of the population is senior citizens. With that said these guys are making all sorts of funny noises. There is also a lot of hawking a loogey sounds when they are doing the scrubbing down part.
This latest installment I particularly liked the Burger King comment.
From my experience on this trip making a scene like people do here when there order is wrong or the food is not satisfactory would not score points. Everyone is polite to each other and one of my favorite things quiet. At the end of the trip I went into Sapporo for dinner. I knew that Sapporo was Japan's 5th largest city but neglected to check the population. It is 1.875 million. That's more than half of Los Angeles' and the city is nowhere near as sprawling. On the train ride in everyone was quiet. There were announcements in Japanese and English not to talk on your cell phone. People would get up and go in between the cars to make a call. Even in restaurants people are quiet.
Is that shack being held together with ropes?
Maybe. I like how the fishing towns have a mishmash of housing styles. Like this, you could have this funky (but tidy and clean) shack next to a super modern concrete Brutalist style building.
That stream and temple are gorgeous. Trees are cool too (exposed roots on the one and twists in the other).
Yes! The grounds of this castle contained some of the most understated landscaping that meshed with nature perfectly. Easily one of the most beautiful places I have spent an afternoon.
Sounds like maybe the whale meat wasn't a hit? How was the snail? When I tried escargot it was way too chewy for me (which I also think means it was overcooked) - same with squid - I have only had it once where it was tender. From what I've read it sounds like it should either be cooked very little/seared or slow cooked for a long time at low temperature. I read about eating whale meat too and it sounds like it can be a delicacy if you get the right cut.
I liked it! I liked everything I ate on the trip except for natto. Natto is truly an acquired taste that many people have a nostalgia from childhood deal going on. The snail is from the sea so not unlike other seafood. A litlle chewy and a hint of ocean. It was on my list of things to eat on the trip. Not something to find here easily. You are correct about the squid. It can only be cooked for a minute or so. The majority of squid I ate was raw. Many places in Hakkodate had live squid. The chef would pull it out of a tank split it open with the head and tentacles attached, scrape out spine and guts, take a knife and make criss cross cuts , and then serve it with the tentacles in the front still moving! Fresh!
I think the whale soup was about the broth. It was good!
found this video. The stuff he cuts up in the beginning looks like what was in the soup but more like potato stick size. This guy appears to be making the same soup.
i=t6BSU2CHTI04o6Lw
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Day 6 Matsumae to Hakodate 73 miles
This would be my last day of riding the bike. I could have stopped in between and stayed in Fukushima or Shiriuchi (famous for where the Shinkasen train tunnel from the rest of Japan comes out) but my one of the suggestions from Michiko was to spend at least a full day in Hakkodate.
I headed downstairs to the restaurant for breakfast. It was excellent. Then is was time to hit the road.
The riding from Matsumae to Fukushima was pretty much more of the same coastal riding. I did see one thing I had not seen on the rest of the trip. I heard some music similar to a garbage truck but this time it turned out to be a guy selling groceries out of a box van. As he would drive down the road the residents would hear the music and come out side to buy stuff.
I made pretty good time to Fukushima. When I got to the center of town I encountered another road station. This one had a different theme than the last. It was for bicycles and squid products. It had neon tubing on the sign in shape of a squid. As far as cyclists went it offered free bike pumps and some other bike related things.
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There was a vending machine out front selling dinners with squid and two others with extensive drink selections. Inside it was all squid. A lot of frozen, dried , snacks, you name it.
Not needing any dried squid I got back on the road. On to Shuruichi. There was a part of me that wanted to check out the museum there that was all about how they dug the tunnel for the train to Hokkaido. At Fukushima the road on the map cuts inland. As soon as I headed in that direction the sky darkened and the thunder started. The next 15 miles or so were a climb that went over the mountains and at the top passed through a longish tunnel. Just as I started the climbing it started to rain. Once again I got rained on the whole climb, went through the tunnel, and the rain continued on the descent on the other side. Eventually things flattened out and I came up on another road station!
This one had a different theme than the last one. Can you guess from the sign?
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53230401363_0a84c133d8_z.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2p6MHNK)20230923_113359 (https://flic.kr/p/2p6MHNK) by noal elkins (https://www.flickr.com/photos/199264425@N04/), on Flickr
This one had soft serve ice cream and PASTRIES!!!!
That's right. The old ladies at this one were just churning out pastries all day long. Eclairs, croissants, savory meat fillings, matcha fillings, custard , you name it. There must have been over 2 dozen types to choose from. They also had a tray of super crispy deep fried chicken cutlets, potato croquettes, and deep fried meat patties. All for around $1 to $2. it was like a dream. Well almost, they did not have any hot drinks. Just iced coffee and tea. I grabbed a couple of pieces of fried chicken and a eclair thing that had a chocolate cream filling and let me tell you it was good!
After the snack back on the road. The rain eased up just as the city of Hakkodate came into view. It was on the other side of the Bay so I still had fair amount of riding to do to reach the center. 15miles? When I reached the city I took a break to study the map and find somewhere that looked acceptable to stay. I found another Ryokan called Ichinomatsu that was rated 4 stars. It was in the area of some really nice high rise luxury resorts so I headed in that direction to check it out.
Getting a room here was a really strange experience. The desk clerk had to go get the manager. Until then they asked me to sit in a seating area in the lobby. Eventually the boss came out and he was holding a small dry erase board. This guy spoke pretty good English.We started out with small talk and then he asked me how much I wanted to pay. I had already looked at some travel sites and knew the price was around $150 a night so I told him 17500 yen which is slightly less than $150. The whole time we are writing numbers on the dry erase board. He said no, no, no it had to 20000 yen $150 only because it was the off season. I came back with yeah but I'm staying two nights and wrote $18000 yen. He agreed and we were both happy. Never had negotiate a hotel room before.
After we sealed the deal I mentioned the bicycle. Confusion kicked in for a moment and then the same answer. Leave it in the genkan.
The room was very nice. In fact the whole place was very nice.
genkan
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main room
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view of garden and koi fish pond from window
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This inn was run as a full Ryokan. When you enter the building you take off your shoes and step into a pair of slippers on the tatami floor. Your shoes are then put away by the doorman. You are expected to wear the slippers around the inn. When you get to your room you remove them at your genkan inside the room. When you first arrive they prepare tea for you and put out a small snack like mochi. In the fitting room is a Yukata and in this inn socks to wear around your room.At this inn everyone on the premises is wearing the yukata. So once you get there throw it on. The staff will ask you want time you want to eat dinner and what time do you want to eat breakfast the next day? If you say 7 for breakfast they will come at 6:30 and put away the futon. Once all of that is out of the way feel free to hit the onsen.
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Sweet nekkid baby Jesus, Noal! Awesome report!
This tunnel is where I had one of the scariest moments of the trip. I could see a semi approaching me in the opposite lane. Suddenly another semi decided to pass. I had just enough time to jump off the bike and up on to the 18" of curb. I put the back wheel behind my legs and slammed myself and the bike against the wall seconds before both trucks passed me in both lanes. Yikes!
Glad you made it and the 2023 Fall Get Together won't be your memorial.
As for Have you given any thought to traveling with Clink? It might be a match made in heaven.
I think I would just wait for you in the vicinity of the below establishment and follow your progress with a tracker, mostly hanging out in a bath of course while FaceTiming JC and Brad.
This one had soft serve ice cream and PASTRIES!!!!
That's right. The old ladies at this one were just churning out pastries all day long. Eclairs, croissants, savory meat fillings, matcha fillings, custard , you name it. There must have been over 2 dozen types to choose from. They also had a tray of super crispy deep fried chicken cutlets, potato croquettes, and deep fried meat patties. All for around $1 to $2. it was like a dream.
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Sweet nekkid baby Jesus, Noal! Awesome report!
Thanks Clink!
Have you looked into getting a Japanese tub? The one's in homes and hotel rooms are more square shaped and deep. You can submerge yourself sitting down up to your neck.
I forgot to mention the toilets there are awesome and bathrooms are clean. I guess from an early age children are taught there is a toilet god and that there is an art to cleaning the toilet. Toilets and bathrooms should also be left cleaner than you found them. Nobody peeing on the floor, skid marks in the bowl, tp on the floor.
The toilets are all those electronic ones that have a bidet feature, heated seat, and sometimes the lid will automatically open when you go in the bathroom so you don't have to touch it.
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Here's some shots of food from both nights
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Japanese Breakfast
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The next day I spent site seeing around Hakodate. The city is pretty touristy. A little more than my liking. Some sections have an almost Fisherman's Wharf Cannery Row kinda vibe going on. With that said it was still enjoyable to see some of the historic sites. The architecture is a mish mash of Japanese, 1800''s western styles, and a little Russian. There are shinto srines, buddhist shrines, Russian orthodox church, and Roman Catholic churches. The city was a major port for trading between Russian, Japan and Europe in the late 1800's. Because of these outside influences there are many municipal innovations that occurred here before the rest of Japan. For instance, the first concrete electrical post and also the first municipal water system that was built solely by the Japanese without help from Europeans.
I started out by walking around their morning seafood market which is extensive. This place is pretty touristy but still fun. You can shop for seafood to take home or pick live seafood and the vendors will take it to a neighboring restaurant where you can eat it. Most popular was the kaisen don/ seafood bowls and crab which there were multiple varieties. The vendors will also let you hold a massive crab and take your photo. I don't have any photos but if you are curious there's tons of videos on You Tube if you search for Hakodate morning market.
I had eaten the Japanese breakfast at the inn about an hour before hand so I had pass on eating at the seafood market.
I took a walk up the hill towards Mt. Hakodate where there is a ropeway tram that will take you to the top. Just wandered around site seeing.
This is kind of like their Lombard St. It's called the Slope
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old section of town
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Large Temple
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I could not resist this place. They serve pineapple buns with soft serve ice cream inside. There is no pineapple in them it just describes the criss cross pattern on top. These buns I believe are originally a Taiwanese specialty.
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This guy bakes them, takes them out of the oven hot, cuts them open, and then fills them with soft serve. They are extremely crispy/sugary on the outside and warm and fluffy on the inside. Strangely the ice cream stays frozen. Maybe because it gets eaten so fast!
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Next I toured their old town hall. In the late 1800s there was major fire in the city that burned down the previous town hall. A local business man at the time used his own money to build a new one in a Western style. It's main feature is a large ballroom on the second floor.
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If you look closely at the balcony you can see two women wearing ball gowns. You can rent Victorian era costumes for about $20 and wear them while you tour the hall. Must make for nice photos. Neat idea!
After the town hall I headed over to the ropeway up the mountain.
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Nice view! Hakodate is a pretty large city. I think the population is about 250,000
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Looking at a car coming up the ropeway
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It was hot on top of the observation deck so I hopped back on the next car down.
Once down I decided to check out an area called the Brick Warehouses. These ended up being long warehouses that had souvenirs and gifts. There was one that was about the size of the West Side parking lot at Pinns that was all gourmet food gifts and another seafood market. I decided to grab a bite to eat. The seafood was super fresh and about $11 including a large beer! The Uni or sea urchin was especially good. I generally do not like Uni in the U.S. because it is not super fresh. For it to be not overpoweringly oceanic flavored it needs to be just super fresh. This Uni was excellent.
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I did a little gift shopping and then caught a street car back to the Inn and hit the onsen.
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The next day I woke up at 6. Got breakfast in the room at 7 and was ready to go by 7:30. When I checked out one woman who worked at the hotel wanted to escort me outside with my bike. She was really interested in how all the bags attached and wanted to help me put them back. She then stood at the front of the inn waving until I turned the corner at the end of the block. It was very sweet.
The day before I had stopped off at the ticket counter to buy a ticket at the train station to get back to New Chitose Airport. A reserved seat ticket on the express train was around $50. The train ride takes about 3 or so hours. You could get a ticket a little bit cheaper in the non reserved section but the seats are not as nice.
In Japan you are not allowed to take a bike on a train without putting it in a bike or as they call it there a rinko bag. They consider bikes to be dirty. When you get on the train car there is an area for oversized baggage by the toilet where the bike can go. I had bought a rinko bag off of amazon at home but had not tried it out yet so it would be interesting to see if it fit.
I got to the train station and the first order of business was coffee. Once I had that i set to work outside the station partially disassembing the bike.
First I started by removing the front bags and the rear bag. My plan was to carry these and put my helmet and all of the smaller bags in the bag with the bike.
The rinko bag was the largest size and it showed that removing the front wheel and strapping it to the crank, frame, other wheel was all that was needed. Maybe because I ride 29" wheels and wider drop bars it still would not fit. I ended up taking the handle bars off and turning the headset and fork backwards the same way I did when I packed it in the bike box. Then it fit. Even better, I had done a large portion of the work that I would need to do to repack the bike at the airport hotel.
bags removed
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front wheel strapped to frame before I took off handle bars.
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I got the bike in the bag. It comes with a shoulder strap so you can carry it like luggage. Pretty cool for $30.
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Now that the bike was packed I visited the bento shop. Wish i had taken a photo. Most larger train stations and airports have shops that sell bentos. Almost everyone who rides the train will buy one. Seems to be part of the whole train ride experience there. (there also is no food or drinks sold on the train) People in Japan seem to really like trains especially the Shinkansen. You can buy replicas of the trains to bring home to your kids. They even have bentos in a plastic box shaped like the Shinkansen. There are about 50 different bentos to chose from in very decorative boxes. Some of them even heat the food up!
With my lunch secured I boarded the train and left for Chitose.
The train drops you off in the bottom of the airport so all I had to do was get in the elevator walk a few hundred yards and I was back at the hotel. Now here's where the Rinko bag comes in handy again. Now the bike looks like luggage. When I checked in the last time the bike was in the box. I have the feeling that if I had rolled the bike up to the desk they would have said "nope no bikes in the room" Pretty neat trick. Anyway, my bike box was waiting for me in the lobby with a tag that said Mr. Elkins. All had to do was walk up to the desk say who I was and they handed me the room key. Easy Peasy.
I put the bike in the room and it was only 330 so I figured I would take the train in to Sapporo to walk around and grab dinner. The express airport train is pretty fast and drops you off right in the middle of the city. It might take 1/2hr tops. I got there a little past four when the commute was starting up. Until this point I had neglected to check the population of Sapporo and I was kind of shocked at the sheer number of people. Maybe because the city is not as sprawling it has the feeling of being in a city like New York. Especially since most people use the train. It was super bustling and truthfully a little exhausting.
I did a little shopping, walked through the park with street food vendors, and ended up having dinner on the 3rd floor of a building at a Tonkatsu restaurant. Nothing amazing but still good. Finding a place to eat is a little confusing because they are all on different floors in buildings not always street level. This is true for a lot of businesses so you gotta read signs.
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I hopped on the train and headed back to the airport. Watched a little TV while I put the bike back in the box.
The next day my flight did not leave until 3 so I had a fair amount of time to spend at the airport which was awesome. That's right New Chitose Airport is the best airport I have ever visited. It has in between the domestic and international terminal a massive 4 floor complex that is all about food. The 1st floor is all gourmet shopping. Tons of beautifully packaged food that showcases all of the local agriculture and fishing. For example they have one stand that only sells milk from Hokkaido. The small bottles are catagorized by what type of cow they came from.
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I cannot do justice in a verbal description of the airport here's a video
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The second floor is all restaurants. There are no chains. No fast food. There might be 40 different places to eat including a ramen alley that has six different places to eat ramen (ramen was invented in Sapporo) There is a 4 different places with chirashi bowls, a restaurant that specializes in dishes with gourmet cheese, curry joints, sushi EVERYTHING.
I opted for sushi. It was really good. At this restaurant you sit in a little cubicle area at the sushi bar. There is a touch screen in front of you and you scroll and push what you want the chef makes it and brings it to your cubicle. You also have a spigot that dispenses hot water and a little container of green tea powder. If
you want a beer just touch the screen and the waitress will bring it. Sushi in Japan is very different from the U.S. For the most part there are no rolls especially rolls with the rice on the outside. That's right no California Roll, no spicy tuna roll, no dragon roll with the fish on the outside. The only roll is tekka maki tuna with seaweed on the outside. Sushi is nigiri and if its high grade fish you don't get 2 pieces. Only one. Spent about 5000 yen ($30) drank two beers and was stuffed which is pretty damn good for an airport.
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It was time to get on the airplane and go home and that's where I leave you.
Thanks for reading my TR and I hope this inspires other people to step out of their comfort zone and into the unknown. Visit somewhere off the beaten path in another country. on't worry if you can't speak the language or you don't know exactly where you are sleeping.
Believe it or not I did a tremendous amount of preparation for this trip. Not only because it was in another country but also because I would be riding and transporting a bicycle. My one suggestion to anyone thinking of bike packing or touring is know every part of your bicycle and how to take it apart and put it back together. Before this trip I pretty much took apart the whole bike. The one crucial part was the drive train. I had an unfortunate mishap where i bent my deraileur hanger and before I could get home it got sucked into the wheel. I pretty much redid the whole drive train. New cassette, new rear derailleur, new front large chain ring, recently changed the bottom bracket. New back wheel( after the derailleur broke two spokes and cracked the rim in the process) New cables, bled the brake system and replaced the brake pads. Cleaned and regreased the headset. If you a familiar with all this stuff you will have a better idea when something is going south and needs to attended to before you wind up in the middle of nowhere in a thunder storm I had no mechanicals on the trip and the bike with all the new components was a dream to ride.
Anyone who reads this in the future please feel free to get in touch with me if you need any more info or resources about Hokkaido.
Thanks again for reading.
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Your trip report makes see hungry every time I read it. Hard to believe, huh?
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Hokkaido has amazing food! Most of Japan's food comes from there. I was excited about the food months before I took the trip.
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I'll choose Japanese food 9 out of 10 times if going out to eat.
Part of the reason your posts make me hungry.
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You were wondering what you were going to do for backpacking after you finish the PCT. Browse through that Hokkaido Wilds site. Lots of great hikes to the top of volcanoes. You can rent a camper van there to ride around in.
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You were wondering what you were going to do for backpacking after you finish the PCT. Browse through that Hokkaido Wilds site. Lots of great hikes to the top of volcanoes. You can rent a camper van there to ride around in.
A list of volcanoes with mostly X'd boxes next to them in his future? ^=X
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Speaking of volcanoes Noal, there is one that is over 6,800 ft closer to the stars than Everest. Chimborazo.
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I had to look up quite a few Japanese terms with the trip report.
That just added to the fun of reading it.
Here is clink's link - https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/highestpoint.html
I've been to the summit of Mauna Kea. That will have to do.
High above the clouds on the summit of Mauna Kea - December 2004
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Shadow of Mauna Kea's summit pyramid cast on the clouds as the sun set.
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I considered doing trip reports for our month-long journeys going east and west across the country this summer.
I think it would pale in comparison to Noal's adventure - even though his was a week and ours was 2 months.
Your efforts are much appreciated Noal and it makes me feel good to know you had such a good time - since I have an inkling of how hard you work at stuff.
Just to try and add to the fun a little - Here is one more photo of my dad at what was then referred to as the Red China border (February 7th, 1967)
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Nice photos John! Glad you enjoyed reading. My main drive to write this TR was because it was a bike trip. It's nice to contribute something to the bike part of the forum. I think we forget sometimes this is also a bicycle site. Hey can you believe I posted all those photos? Wish I could figure out how to do it with my phone.
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Nice photos John!
Thanks! - I used to enjoy showing those Hawaii photos in my Volcanos lecture. My students seemed to like them too.
I think we forget sometimes this is also a bicycle site.
I've heard that cycling is the new climbing.
Hey can you believe I posted all those photos? Wish I could figure out how to do it with my phone.
I can believe it and appreciate it since I know you prefer the phast phone over the clunky computer.
Sorry - can't help with that. Maybe somebody on here can enlighten us all.
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My new washing machine has multiple cycling options. I’m thinking of using more delicate than permanent press or heavy duty. Normal no longer is an honest option.
I remember when kayaking became the “new climbing” alternative for some climbers.
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Climbers that also ride bikes is not some kind of new trend. It's good to have other outdoor activities besides climbing. Climbers tend to get obsessed with climbing and become one dimensional. I think most of us on here have other interests. Brad/backpacking, john/unicycling, Mr mud, mudworm, f4 cycling scuba diving , Mungie snowmobiling. Gavin Alacia backpacking, clink romantic walks on the beach......
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clink romantic walks on the beach......
You forgot knuckle dragging, driving slower than grandma and taking bubble baths :lol: :yesnod: :ciappa:
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Super cool trip report. I have been offline for a while and I am just now getting caught up.
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Noal,
I really enjoyed reading your travel report.
I went to Japan in August with my daughter, only to Tokyo though (because we only went for a week). I definitely want to go back to visit more places, and riding a bike may be a great way to do it.
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Thanks!
How was Tokyo? Looked like it was pretty hot there in August!
Yeah, you should totally take a bike trip there! It's easier than it seems to take a bike on a plane. The train system is so good there you could ride for a bit in one area take a train to another area and ride there too. They also have some really nice ferries.
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Tokyo is great. People are very polite, streets are clean. We walked every where even though it was hot. We bought umbrellas for walking in the sun like the locals. That helped a lot.
We each got a card that we can load money and use it for convenient stores and all public transportations including railroad trains. (Although I am not sure if the card will work outside of Tokyo.)
Next time I will go back and try some bike tours. I am not be brave enough to solo, perhaps I can do it through a bike tour outfitter.
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Those cards are really handy. I think one is called Suica and the other is PASMO. You can use them in vending machines too.
I took out the max at the ATM in the airport which was 50,000 yen or around $330.00. That was more than enough cash for the whole trip. Most of the lodging I used a credit card. Total I spent with airfare was less was than $2000 for 10 days.
I think you could plan out a trip without taking a tour. There's a trip report on the Hokkaido wilds site that overlaps with the route that I took. The couple used folding bikes and had really leisurely rides around 30 kilometers a day. Folding bikes are also easier to take on trains.
In other areas of Japan you could create a route with less miles per day and still be able to book hotels because the cities are closer together. If you know that you only need to ride 20 or so miles a day there's no question you will get to your destination. If you have a couple or few weeks you could see a lot things.