Days 6 & 7 on the Northern Sea Circuit - Heading east

 

Ticking the box

I've reached the point in life where the bucket list is no longer a semi-humorous collection of places to visit and things to do to share amongst friends, but rather an actual to-do list that comes with the knowledge that the body may not cooperate in making everything possible before time runs out. Travel plans now take on a more serious overtone as the realization dawns that time (and money) are not eternal. Our recent trip to Hokkaidō 北海道 was more tailored to what my wife wanted to see and do, but there was one stop on the itinerary that represented a box for me to check. And that was the body of water you see in the photo above. Why I wanted to see it and how I finally got there will all become clear should you choose to read on...

Speaking of clarity this is how the weather appeared on the morning of Day Six, as we looked out from our hotel room on the 36th floor: 

This card on the window sill aided in identifying some of the landmarks:

The hotel may have seemed luxurious, but my reservation courtesy of Agoda.com did not include breakfast. However, that wasn't a problem, as there was a Mister Donut ミスド conveniently located inside Sapporo Station 札幌駅. Lunch wouldn't be an issue, either. Our 11:46 Ōzora おおぞら limited express train may have lacked a dining car or pushcart service, but that just meant we could partake in one of Japan's most enjoyable travel traditions - tucking into an ekiben 駅弁 while heading off to your next destination:

And for us that final stop on the train would be the city of Kushiro 釧路 in eastern Hokkaido. The scenery looked like this for most of the scheduled 244-minute ride (at one point I saw a flock of four or five Red-crowned cranes タンチョウ in a field, but the train was moving too quickly for me to get a photo. Something similar would happen a few days later on the return back to Sapporo 札幌):

As we got closer to Kushiro the train tracks started to parallel the churning waters of the North Pacific Ocean:

Japan may be justifiably famous for the punctuality of its rail system, but that doesn't mean delays never happen. They do, and in our case, we pulled into Kushiro Station 釧路駅 more than half an hour past the scheduled 15:50 arrival time. According to the on-board announcement, the delay was a result of having to wait for another train to pass; however, according to the JR Hokkaido website, it was due to a fallen tree on the tracks. Whatever the reason, by the time I picked up our reserved rental car, the sun was already beginning to set, meaning we would be arriving at our hotel in the darkness, something I had hoped to avoid:

It took more than two hours to reach Akanko Onsen 阿寒湖温泉, and as we left Kushiro's suburbs, it started to snow. The weather continued to deteriorate the closer we got to our final destination, but in the end we made it safely without any issues:

Pulling into the hot springs area we had to stop to let a deer cross the road: 

Our room at the Forest of Akan Tsuruga Resort HANAYUUKA:

There was a small restaurant attached to the hotel on the ground floor, and that's where I rewarded myself for getting the two of us there with a steak dinner:

Standing in front of the Corolla hybrid that we had rented in Kushiro:

Our hotel:

Across the street was a public footbath:

The large lake Akan-ko 阿寒湖 was located right behind the hotel. This was the view the next morning from our room:

The lake was frozen over enough that tents had been set up on its surface:

But it was another lake that we would visit that morning following breakfast. I drove perhaps a tad too slowly on the snow-covered National Route 241, but it was better to be safe than sorry considering my relative lack of experience with driving in these conditions:

Stopping briefly at the Nagayama-tōge pass 永山峠 to look at a mountain in the distance:

I enjoy having my own wheels in Japan. Despite having grown up in the U.S. I've never had any issues with driving on the opposite side of the road. In addition to Japan, I've done so in Thailand, the United Kingdom, South Africa, the Seychelles and Australia. I never want to become another Anne Sacoolas:

An hour later, and it finally came into view - Mashū-ko 摩周湖. Ever since reading about it in the excellent but now long out-of-print Gateway to Japan guidebook, I've always wanted to see what many claim is Japan's most beautiful lake (it's also said to be one of the most clearest lakes in the world). 212 meters/696 feet at its deepest point, the lake has been almost completely untouched by human hands. That's because of the high cliffs surrounding the crater lake. Mashu-ko is also unusual in that no rivers flow into or out of it. My guidebooks warned that views of the lake are often obscured by clouds and mist (the Ainu called it "the Devil's Lake"), but on this day the kamuy rewarded my long wait with relatively good weather. Naturally, Shu-E and I took a lot of photos from the No. 1 Observatory 摩周湖第一展望台 (there's another observatory further along, but the road leading there is closed in winter):

The view in the opposite direction from the parking lot: 

The small island in the middle of the lake was considered by the Ainu to be the Isle of the Kamuy:

At one point we took a break in the onsite cafe before going back outside for further looks at the scenery:

My wife made good use of her selfie stick:

I know what you're asking and, yes, it was well worth seeing, and for me was the highlight of our trip. And that box has now been ticked.

We stopped for lunch at a rāmen ラーメン restaurant in the nearby town of Teshikaga 弟子屈, though I would order a donburi 丼 dish instead of noodles: 

The drive back to Akan Onsen:

After parking in front of the hotel, Shu-E and I went out to explore the town. Deer were a common sight:

Someone takes advantage of the foot bath while getting some work done. He would be there for a while:

At the eastern end of town is the Akan Kohan Eco-Museum Center 阿寒湖畔エコミュージアムセンター, with exhibits on local flora and fauna. Most interesting to me were the marimo マリモ- green algae spheres that somehow are very kawaii 可愛い - cute marimo souvenirs could be found in all the shops. In the warmer months it's possible to take a boat from behind our hotel out to the Marimo Observation Center:

Encountering more deer:

A marimo doll, with a rather prominent bulge:

This shopkeeper etched our daughter's name into a souvenir strap we purchased for her. He remarked that he had never seen the Chinese characters that make up her given name:

The entrance to the Ainu Kotan アイヌコタン, a collection of shops and households that's considered to be the largest Ainu village in Hokkaido. What you don't see in the photo is the large group of noisy Chinese tourists taking photos while standing in the middle of the street:

A nusasan ヌササン, a sacred Ainu altar. Entry inside was forbidden:

Shu-E and I had a peek inside a small museum:

Most of the crafts shops were closed, but at least one Ainu restaurant was open, so this was where we had dinner:

I had a bowl of Hokkaido venison and Hokkaido wild leek, served atop a bed of rice, and accompanied by a bowl of miso soup 味噌汁. And a Sapporo Classic Beer, of course:

There was an Ainu dance show that would start at 20:00 but my wife wanted to see a different event starting at the same time:

And that was a nightly fireworks show over Akan-ko. We had a good view of the pyrotechnics from our hotel room:

Getting an early start on St. Patrick's Day with a green-colored Abashiri Beer 網走ビール:

The next day would probably be the highlight of our trip for Shu-E. That story will be coming soon...