Oct 02
We spent most of today driving to Utoro from Sounkyo. Most of the drive was on local roads, and it took us more than an hour to pass through the town of Kitami … painful.
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| View Point #1 |
We stopped at a few "view points" along the way. First was this patch of grass on the side of the road - not impressed. The poster board shows different views of the field for each of the four seasons … I guess we did not come at the right time?
The next stop was the red marsh plant at Lake Notoro. The plants were not that red and the colours were kind of uneven. The pictures in the brochure look a lot better.
Next was a park by the sea - supposedly a 20 km stretch of wild flowers. But all we saw were only miles of shrubs ... but we got a nice view of the sea and a chance to stretch our legs.
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| View Point #3 |
Then there was the salmon run at Onnebetsu. There were not too many salmons in the river - too late in the season? Last was the Oshinkoshin waterfall. The interesting part was the waterfall has two heads, otherwise nothing special. The best part was we caught the sunset at the parking lot, which was next to the sea. This turned out to be the most interesting and enjoyable part of the day.
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| sunset captured as a HDR image |
I forgot to mention lunch. We ended up in a supermarket that served many ready made lunches. We had sashimi, sushi, and a hot dish, all were very fresh and reasonably priced. The Daiichi hotel in Utoro is the best we have had so far. We stayed in a new tower and the living area alone has 21 tatamis - twice the size of those we have stayed in so far, plus two beds and 'huge' entranceway. The onsen is the best too...with separate jacuzzis to massage your calves and lower back, your shoulder, the back, and feet in addition to the usual hot spring pools. Sooooo relaxing.
Oct 03
Today was a cloudy day and rain was forecasted for early afternoon. Since it is not the right season for whale / dolphin watching, we decided to skip the boat cruise. Our first activity was the hike around the Five Lakes Nature trail in the Shiretoko National Park. As this is bear country, we had to attend a mandatory short lecture where the park staff showed us a film on 'bear' precautions and told us about the dos and don'ts on the trail.
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| a colourful mushroom |
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| perfect reflection around the Five Lakes Nature trail |
The trail is very similar to those in Canada. Karen was the first one to get a mosquito bite, and Lesley was so happy that she had not gotten any, yet! But before you know it, Lesley was eaten alive - with more than 20 bites by the time we left. It was a very nice and serene walk (minus the mosquitoes). Other than the variety of mushrooms, there was not much to see; the best we could do was to take some pictures.
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| Kamuiwakka Waterfalls |
Next we drove 30 minutes to see the Kamuiwakka Waterfalls. What is special about this fall is that you can climb this hot water fall, and if you choose to, you can use it as a hot spring bath also. Lesley and David climbed part of it, while Karen stayed behind as one can see the slippery green layer on the rocks. We also saw quite a few deers on the drive, but the spots on them are not very clear as they prepare for winter.
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| deer in headlights! |
We had lunch at a place called "fishermans’ wives co-operative diner". It is a small place, and we had a yummy grilled fish, ramen and rice with salmon roe. Unfortunately sea urchin's season ended in August ...
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| fox |
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| deer with antler |
After lunch, we visited a few view points on the map. An outdoor onsen right where the hot spring is - but it was a bit cold and too rustic for us. The only other interesting spot is the geyser. Since it was Sunday, the centre beside the geyser was closed; and we could not find out when the next eruption would be.
But Lesley really wanted to see it ... she waited in the open despite the light rain and knowing darn well that the geyser erupts only every 60-70 mins. She even said ... "watch that it will erupt right when I turn around".
At around 20 minutes in, Lesley turned around and said she was giving up ... all of a sudden, there was a big "swoosh" and the greyer erupted! When she turned around, she was able to catch several smaller eruptions ... And before you know it, the water disappeared and only smoke would come out.
At around 20 minutes in, Lesley turned around and said she was giving up ... all of a sudden, there was a big "swoosh" and the greyer erupted! When she turned around, she was able to catch several smaller eruptions ... And before you know it, the water disappeared and only smoke would come out.
The next stop was the red marsh plant at Lake Notoro. The plants were not that red and the colours were kind of uneven. The pictures in the brochure look a lot better.
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