Day 6: Furano –> Naitai Terrace –> Lake Mashu
Breakfast at the Airbnb was incredible. The host absolutely CRAMMED a regular cafeteria tray full of fresh cut fruits, Japanese pudding, tea, hard-boiled eggs, fresh raisin bread, and yogurt. Super simple, but maybe my favorite breakfast the entire trip. Plus, the host was just a such a pleasant and wholesome lady that it was an 11/10 experience.
Google Maps estimated the drive from Furano to Lake Mashu would take about 4 hours. But, there’s not much between the two points but farmland. To break up the rolling corn fields (Hokkaido, the Ohio of Japan – new slogan idea), we drove off the fastest route to make a stop at Naitai Terrace, a restaurant that one of Andrew’s coworkers recommended. Naitai Terrace is also Japan’s largest cattle farm (maybe largest farm in general?). I really can’t recommend stopping here enough. We had the weather on our side again. The views from the restaurant of gently sloping hills dotted with cows, deep blue sky, floating cotton candy clouds… Just a real treat to see. They may also be serving the best cheeseburgers in Japan. Also, yeah, more soft serve. Really, really good soft serve.
We made it to Lake Mashu by early afternoon. Our first stop was the Lake Mashu observatory, which had beautiful panoramic views of the lake and surrounding mountains. Lake Mashu is situated in a super beautiful national park. Nearby, Lake Akan is famous for growing a “very cute” form of round algae balls called Marimo. The rest stop a Lake Mashu observatory even sold lots of live Marimo and Marimo-related paraphernalia. I don’t really get it but, uh, I guess it is an interesting phenomenon?
The real star of this stop was the Polaris Pension. Pension are another name for guesthouses in Japan. Typically run by individuals, I guess they compare most closely to an American independent bed and breakfast. This pension is pretty far outside of nearby towns and is notable as a star gazing destination. The rooms are new and comfortable. The owner is welcoming, and also happened to be a former employee of Andrew’s company, small world! The food is delicious, and locally-sourced. And the best part, there are two friendly cats guests can play with. But, really, stay here for the star gazing.
While we were there, we could see the Milky Way stretching across the sky. Additionally, Jupiter and Saturn were visible to the naked eye. The owner set up his telescope to give the guests a closer look at the planets. Additionally, he set up his camera to take long-exposure shots of the guests against the background of the stars. It was a magical experience.
Day 7: Lake Mashu –> Abashiri
After breakfast at the hotel, we got back on the road. Our ultimate goal was to spend time in Shiretoko Peninsula, an UNESCO world heritage site. However, because development on the peninsula is limited, accommodations are expensive. Instead of breaking the bank on two nights on the peninsula (probably would have cost upwards of $700?) we decided to compromise and stay one night in nearby Abashiri (a city with some notable sites of its own) and the next night in a hotel on the peninsula.
The drive to Abashiri from Lake Mashu is only about an hour and a half. So, we had time to look up places worth seeing around Akan-Mashu National park. Our host at Polaris gave us information on Sakura Falls and Kaminoko Pond, so we decided to check them out.
Our first stop was Sakura Falls. Situated off of some remote farm fields, Sakura Falls has a small gravel parking lot leading to a short staircase. At the base of the staircase, you can view a small (3-4 meters tall) waterfall. I’m not sure if this is worth a stop most of the year. But, from July-August this point of the Shari River is a perfect spot for viewing cherry salmon jumping upstream. According to my quick google search, about 3000 cherry salmons swim upstream to spawn, it was so fun to watch. I’ve seen salmon jumping at the Ballard Locks in Seattle, but I had never seen them jumping in a wild stream.
Kaminoko Pond is a “famous tourist spot” only accessible by car. The vibrant turquoise blue pond is fed by a spring that pumps out 12,000 tons of water daily (so says japan.travel which seems like a reputable website). According to the same japan.travel article, the deep blue color is the result of white volcanic ash settled at the bottom of the pond reflecting blue light from the sun. The cold temperature of the water (8 C) prevents the fallen trees in the pond from decomposing. It is kind of interesting to see. You can walk around the entire pond in about 2 minutes, so if you just need to stretch your legs this is a fine place to stop. Way too many bugs buzzing around the pond for my liking.
In Abashiri, our first objective was lunch. Well, my first objective was lunch, and Andrew doesn’t like me when I’m hungry. We stopped at a michi-no-eki (roadside rest stop) for rice bowl set meals and pushed on to Abashiri Prison Museum. Abashiri Prison was constructed in the 1890s and was active until the 1980s when a modernized prison was built. The museum is an open air self-guided tour through the old buildings. I was surprised to find that English-language pamphlets were available AND all of the information in the museum was also translated into English. I’m, uh, not a history buff. But, Andrew really seemed to enjoy the museum!
After Abashiri Prison Museum, we popped over to the nearby Okhotsk Ryu-hyo (Drift Ice) Museum. The important thing to know here is that they serve sea-salt caramel soft serve. It is also a science museum where you can learn about Clione (sea angels) and drift ice, a phenomenon that occurs when it gets so cold here from Siberian winds that the ocean literally freezes. They have a Drift Ice Experience Room where you can experience -15C temperatures surrounded by real drift ice. It was cold.
Our accommodation for the night was a pension hotel/farm complete with horses and sheep visible from our window. The room was a comfortable Japanese tatami room with shared bathrooms and coin laundry. We took this opportunity to do some laundry and get dinner recommendations from the owner.
Day 8: Abashiri –> Shiretoko (Utoro)
Andrew booked a sight-seeing cruise leaving from Utoro this morning at 8:30am. Abashiri is about an hour and a half away from Utoro by car. So, we had to be up and out the door before 6:30am to check in for the cruise by 8am. Unfortunately, this meant that we would not be able to stay at the pension for breakfast. Judging by the pictures online this would have been a good meal. Instead, the owner of the pension woke up early to make coffee for us and gave us two bottles of milk to sustain us for the drive. On the way to Utoro, we stopped at a convenience store for breakfast snacks.
Since I was a child, I have had issues with motion sickness. When we arrived at Utoro, it was sprinkling outside but the water looked calm. However, I didn’t want to get stuck on a boat heaving up convenience store junk breakfast. So, I popped one Dramamine after we checked in for the cruise just in case. I probably would have been fine without it, but I think all vacations are better when you don’t throw up.
The cruise was incredible. The absolute highlight of our entire trip. It was a lot of driving to get to Shiretoko from Hakodate, but it was so worth it. The cruise Andrew booked was two hours and took us about ¾ of the way to the tip of the peninsula. Along the way we saw eagles, deer, and 5 bears. 2 of the bears were individual sightings. Towards the tip of the peninsula, we saw a mother bear exploring a beach and stream with her two cubs.
After the cruise, we drove to the visitor center in Utoro to get some information about how to visit Kamuiwakka Hot Falls and the Goko (five lakes) area. During the high season (July/August) it is not possible to drive further than the Shiretoko National Park Nature Center. Instead, there’s a bus that runs from the Nature Center to Goko and Kamuiwakka Hot Falls. You can purchase a round trip ticket at the nature center. The ticket allows you to hop on/hop off at Goko and Kamuiwakka at your own pace.
The bus from the Nature Center to Kamuiwakka Falls takes about 45 minutes with a stop at Goko on the way. While on the bus, we passed several groups of deer and a lot of signs warning about bears. The bus stop for the Falls is about 2 minutes away from the start of the trail, which itself is only a short path to the river. Here, hot spring water from Mt. Io mixes with the fresh river water allowing visitors to enjoy a walk through pleasantly warm (30C) water and very slippery waterfalls.
A ranger was stationed at the top of the second waterfall to monitor visitors’ safety below, as well as to ensure no one snuck past the ropes blocking off the trail. Apparently bears also like to enjoy the warm river, so best not to go past the recommended walking area. This was a really beautiful stop, but there’s no reason to spend a long time here.
We stopped at Goko on our way back to Utoro, but the visibility was quite poor while we were there so there wasn’t much to see or do along the free elevated walking path. Because of the weather, we decided against walking the longer ground path which requires an entrance fee as well as a mandatory safety lecture.
After returning to Utoro, Andrew wanted to drive over the mountains to Rausu on the southern coast of the peninsula. Curvy mountain roads tend to make me sleepy. We had woken up quite early for our cruise that morning, so the drive didn’t do much for me. From Rausu you can see Kunashiri Island, which is currently under Russian control though Japan also claims the island.
After the drive, we checked into our hotel. A seaside ryokan with private onsens that can be rented by the hour, this hotel was a totally #worthit splurge. Dinner and breakfast were included in the cost of our stay and our Japanese-style room had large windows looking out over the water. The dinner featured local scallops and trout, but the main event was a selection of skewers that we got to dip in tempura batter and fry at our table. We booked the private onsen for after dinner and had a thoroughly relaxing evening.
Day 9: Shiretoko –> Hokkaido Ice Pavilion –> Sapporo
In the morning, we woke up early for breakfast at the hotel. The plan was to drive from Utoro back to Sapporo in one shot. Google estimated that drive would take about 6 hours. Luckily, one of Andrew’s Japanese coworkers recommended a “must see” stop along the route back to Sapporo: the Hokkaido Ice Pavilion.
On their website, the Hokkaido Ice Pavilion claims to be “the world’s first and largest scale facility where you can enjoy a cold experience year-round.” Have you ever watched Buffy the Vampire Slayer (incredible tv show starring Sarah Michelle Gellar)? The Hokkaido Ice Pavillion feels like the exposition of an episode where you see a glimpse of an ice demon who steals your soul if you touch an icicle. I would not be surprised if the employees at the Hokkaido Ice Pavilion are aliens, like the ones in Men in Black who sort mail at the post office. Also, you can get soft serve at the Hokkaido Ice Pavilion.
Eventually we made it back to Sapporo. We booked the same hotel that we stayed in at the beginning of the trip. So, shortly after arriving we were able to wash away the long drive with free happy hour wine. We ventured out to dinner at a well-known sushi restaurant in the Sapporo train station. Where we waited in line for over an hour. The sushi was good, but like, “wait in line for over an hour” good? Maybe not. It was a fine dinner. I was very ready for the comfy hotel bed at the end of the day.
Day 10: Sapporo –> Hakodate –> Utsunomiya
The final day of our trip is kind of a blur. We had the fresh, local soup and bread for breakfast again at our hotel in Sapporo and were on the road by 9:30am. Once again, the weather overcast. So, we decided to drive straight through to Hakodate instead of reattempting the sites that were rained out at the beginning of the trip. A brief stop at a michi-no-eki for lunch is all that broke up the 3 ½-hour drive.
I checked the shinkansen schedule along the way to see if we could squeeze in a trip to Mt. Hakodate, but considering the long morning drive and upcoming (also long) train trip, we decided to catch the next departing shinkansen and boogie on home.
