Thanks, Matt. Yes, I have checked out your blog.
At the end of each day, after my hot spring soak, I enjoyed returning to the tent, strapping on the headlamp (sunset comes very early in Japan, even in summer) and making my paper journal entry. Other than a short Instagram post for family and friends, I had very little screen time. My iPad actually spent almost the entire trip packed in the pannier.
Discipline is essential.
You need a routine.
Discipline and routine are some of the things I tend to “forget at home” when I go on cycle trips, so I suspect that I will remain blog free in the future, as far as maintaining an up to date journal
Back to the trip!
Week three started with an enforced rest day. Enforced by the Teshio campground manager! When I retrieved the charging cables that they had kept for me, I said I would be staying the night. “Rider house?” asked the manager. Rider houses are bare bones accommodation in Hokkaido. They’re usually just an indoor space to lay down your own bedding, great for not having to camp in bad weather. “I’ll just camp” I replied. “You take rider house. Big rain tonight” he said. I at first thought he wanted to “upsell” me, so I asked how much the rider house was. “¥200” was the reply. You read that right. An indoor space to lay my head for less than 2 Canadian Dollars. The tent site was ¥400. He definitely was more concerned with my well being than making a profit. “Two nights?” he asks. I reply that one night is good. “No ride tomorrow. Big storm!” he admonishes.
And he was right indeed. In the middle of the night I awoke to the trailer positively shuddering in the wind and the rain beating on the roof, and it continued until the late afternoon. I spent much of the time soaking in the onsen that overlooked the campsite, watching the storm through the floor to ceiling windows.
On my rest day I also realized that I would not have time to see all of the areas in Hokkaido that I had planned, so I plotted a route that would include a train ride. This allowed me to see the area I had skipped at the beginning of the tour because of the heat, and make it back to Sapporo in time for my next flight.
After leaving Teshio (with charging cords!) my route took me to overnight stays at Otoineppu, Esashi, Omu, Yubetsu and Ozora. I then bagged the bike and took the train to Furano.
I must recount my lunch experience one day, just one more example of the kindness from the Japanese people. I stopped at the michi no eki (roadside rest area) in Omu for lunch. Most of these rest stops, and there are over 1000 of them throughout the country, have restaurants and stores attached. I didn’t spot a restaurant at this one, however, there was a vending machine outside that appeared to dispense hot food. Wrong. Out popped a frozen margherita pizza. I figured there must be a place inside to heat it up, as I saw people at tables eating hot meals, so inside I went. Turns out there was a cafe inside, I just didn’t see it, and the vending machine food was to take home and cook. “There’s no place to heat the food” the nice cafe lady says, so I thank her and turn to head out. “Chotto” she says, loosely translated as “just wait a minute”, and she takes my pizza and goes to talk to the lady at the tourist info booth. A good 3 or 4 minutes pass with them in conversation, then she returns with another “chotto” and disappears up the stairs, where I think there are offices. Five minutes later she reappears, sans pizza, and says it’ll be about 15 minutes, please have a seat. I realize this lady from the cafe has taken the pizza I hadn’t bought from her and spent 10 minutes finding someone to
bake it for me! Then, when she brought me the perfectly cooked ‘zza, she gave me a cup of coffee to go with it!
This wasn’t the first, nor would it be the last, of these experiences.
Photo 1: My ¥200 per night shelter from the storm, which I had all to myself.
Photo 2: The Teshiogawaonsen train station. To catch the train from this tiny unmanned station, just push the button that sends a signal for the train to stop, otherwise it just carries on.
Photo 3: Part of the 35km cycling road into Abashiri
Photo 4: Gas spewing from an active volcano near Biei
