20161006 - 20161007_Hokkaido

Nothing much to write about October 6. We spent the day driving from the Utoro / Shiretoko National Park to Noboribetsu Onsen. We stopped for a break to explore the Reru Outlet Mall and Salmon Park near New Chitose Airport.  Neither were impressive enough to warrant a recommendation.

summit of Mt Tarumae ... and look who'd made it to the top!
Next day we drove to the 7th station of nearby Mt. Tarumae (for reference, 0 is the base and 10 is the summit).  We then began our climb up to the summit... Someone was a slow poke like always ;) , but she made it to the top!   The summit was not as stunning as Mt. Meakan,  but it still had a gorgeous vista of the ocean and 2 blue lakes,  plus the rolling green hills.  The crater also contained some sulphur gas vents, but no water that was visible.
scary looking and off-limits crater across the shrine
It was crazy windy (and cold!), so we decided against doing the loop around the crater.  Instead we walked 1 km or less in either direction to check out the view.  One thing of interest was the stone Shinto shrine at the edge - not sure why it was built, but it provided some welcome relief from the wind when we checked it out!  







 After exploring Mt. Tarumae,  we visited a super gimmicky and commercial 'ninja village', Noboribetsu Date Jidaimura.  Can't say I was impressed given the price, the shows and the attractions offered.  But there were a couple things that were fun: 1) the 'guide' for one of the comedy shows was very engaging and made it fun. The 'volun-told' male lead was a good sport so she had quite a bit of fun at his expense.  2) The different amusement houses (Ninja Maze, Golden Cat Temple,  and House of Monsters) were simply built but amusing nevertheless. 
Jigokudani_Hell Valley_地獄谷 

After this we headed to check out (cue scary music) HELL  VALLEY aka Jigokudani.  With the colours and shape of the background cliffs,  the sulphur vents and the streams of hot springs,  this place is aptly named and quite nice.  As it was late, we didn't get a chance to explore it as much as we would have liked,  but what we did see was accessible, and pretty. We may check it out tomorrow,  but the sulphur mountain we saw on the Oct 4 was more impressive since we could get a lot closer ;)
Jigokudani_Hell Valley_地獄谷 

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