Day 5 Forest Campground to Hamatonbetsu

Wednesday 13 June 2012 

Day 5 Forest Campground to Hamatonbetsu 61km (total: 486)

It ended up being 61km to Hamatonbetsu and with a strong head wind for some of the way, I made it into town at 12:45pm (~3:45 cycling time), and was happy to make it a “short-day” and stay in Hamatonbetsu.

It was very cold this morning, starting out at 8:45am, and I needed long-gloves and a beanie, in addition to arm-warmers and wind/rain-proof jacket!  Luckily I warmed up after 30mins or so, and took off the gloves & beanie. Although I feel cold, it is in fact summer here - it is hard to imagine how cold it gets in winter around these parts - -35 to -40 degrees C is not uncommon!

It was a nice mountainous ride for the first half, and then the mountains opened up to flat and fertile dairying land.  Unfortunately when out of the mountains, the wind really picks up, and I had a head-wind for much of the second-half of the ride.

Tonight I am staying at a proper Japanese Ryokan!  It is right on the lake-front and, although I feel a little guilty for not camping on a nice, clear evening, it is such a good opportunity that I couldn’t pass it up.  Plus, I am feeling a bit gungy and really wanted to get clean.  Unfortunately, the hotel does not have internet, but they do have an onsen!  In fact, there is no shower or proper bathroom in a Japanese Tatami room at all! 

 So, with some reluctance, I went to the onsen (It is my first time! What if I bungle something and am culturally offensive?)  The risk of embarrassment is always greater if you are naked!.  However, I needn’t have been worried – my time spent swimming has erased any naked-in-the-change room-awkwardness, so it is just one further step to go sans-bathers into the pool [onsen] anyway!  I washed my hair and face and made a big deal of scrubbing my legs so the Japanese ladies cautiously watching me could be assured that it was a tan, not dirt, before clumping into the onsen. Ohhh Yeah! It was hot and relaxing and awesome! 

Dinner was great too – a real selection of Japanese foods, with pickles, small containers of hot and cold seafood dishes, boiling water to cook raw vegetables, tofu and fish in and a mountain of rice to eat it all with!  I am already looking forward to breakfast!

Also, funny coincidence for the day – I couldn’t check into my Ryokan room until 3pm so had 90mins+ to kill, so I went to the SeicoMart to buy lunch then took it back to the Lake where I could sit at a picnic table and eat and chill out.  Then the Japanese guy from last night (in his camper van w wife) turned up!  Haha! They are staying down on the lake tonight, and then travelling to Cape Soya and Wakkanai

 

I keep forgetting about the bow!  It is wonderful, instead of screaming out “Sabadee Barang!!!” or similar when you ride past, Japanese simply acknowledge you with s dignified nod of the head.   Something so simple conveys a great deal of warmth and kindness. I love giving ad receiving nods!

Also, there seems to be great camaraderie between cycle and motorcycle tourers in Japan – most motorcycle tourers (there are a lot!) give me a friendly wave as I pass by J