There was nothing better than waking up on that campsite on this lovely morning. I was only one of two campers and the other guy was already picking up when I emerged from my tent at 8am. He was from Sapporo and only on a short day/ night away. I knew it was a bit of a gamble cycling another 15km yesterday evening that i had to cycle again today but I loved being in nature(ish) versus waking up in an old people home (the “hot spring inn” from yesterday evening). I had oatmeal for breakfast, sadly no mill but just water, flavoured with Lavendar honey from Furano, with chia seeds and the last dry goji berries. As my gas supply seems to be nearing the end I did oats first, then tea water. 

I was all ready to go by 9.30 with a firm view of getting to Abishiri by 3pm, including breaks and well in time for my big sightseeing activity there, finding a campsite, food and onsen (the usual program). The first 40km went by quickly. 

I realised that when I fixed the tyre the day before we pumped up the rear tyre to 7bar (100psi I think), this is less than what I had on before as the tyre was less hard. However, maybe the wheel cannot handle the highly pressured tyre as all the bumps go straight into the wheel as opposed to be softened by the tyre itself. Could this be causing the spike breakage? 

Anyways, I’ve been carrying the backpack today to disperse the weight a bit. It’s not great as the weight puts extra pressure on my bum and groin area. Already quite sensitive from all the cycling...

There was a konbini (road shop) early on where I should have gotten water. I didn’t and so had to suffer the first 30km without water. It was not great but eventually a shop appeared. I also bought and ate 2 rice balls and bought a 1.5L bottle of Pocari Sweat (those guys should sponsor me, really). I just looked it up and thankfully my fears that it has sweeteners are not confirmed...after another 10km I stopped for some obligatory lunch icecream. This time pumpkin flavour, as the area is producing lots of it. Also bought a bag of mixed nuts and fruit, all locally sourced. 

By now I had done 44km, it was 12noon and I had another 50km to go. No problemo, the wind was a bit annoying as it came either directly into my face or just somewhat. I stopped for some pictures at an abandoned hotel and also did some stretches. 

The whole journey today was a constant up and down over hilly country side along the 3 Lakes: Saroma, Notoro and Abashiri. It was quite weird seeing these huge water basins and at the end more houses or what seemed like some. But not horizon and open water as would be expected. Eventually I got to lake Notoro, meaning I only had 30km to go. I stopped at an old railway train along the route. The compartments were so interesting, Japanese. You had to sit on the floor, very unlike western trains. Hmm, this is how they conquered Hokkaido and many other places in the 1800s - by railroad. 

And here it happened. I was minding my own business as I saw a large parking space and a guy taking pictures. Looked like a great spot and it had a toilet, perfect timing. As i left to go back to my bike I noticed a strange Path, which looked like a cycle path. It couldn’t be, this is Japan. They don’t do cycle paths. They’d rather make cyclists share a pavement with pedestrians without any concern for either ones safety or sanity. Or, worse, force them onto the road with the cyclist’s worst enemy: the lorry driver. Always on keen competition for valuable road space, the majority of lorry drivers are the unclaimed kings of the road. In their natural habitat they dominate their lane fully, from side strip to the middle. 

Of course I didn’t believe that I had seen a cycle path so I went back onto the main road, back in with the lorry drivers and heavy(ish) traffic. At some point I saw a shimmer of the path again, could it be? I said to myself if I see another opening to the path I’ll take it. And a few hundred metres there was one. I took it. What a feeling. An actual cycle path just for me. No other cyclist of course. And the path wasn’t greatly maintained with some shrubs and crap on the floor but it was 1000 better than the road. I was the happiest cyclist ever. 

Eventually I got to Abashiro and to my desired tourist activity: Abashiri Prison Museum. It had excellent reviews and it sounded like a great educational activity. This has got to be one of the best museums ever. The buildings are well maintained and the exhibits were so life like. It was actually scary. There were a lot of facts in various languages about life inside the prison, it’s history and it’s contribution to Hokkaido being Japanese, not Russian (explanation below). The whole museum had audio-visual exhibits and a multi-media film about the road from Asahikwa to Abashiri that 1115 prisoners had to build to counter Russian advances at the loss of 1 in 6 prisoners back in 1890. The prison showed the evolution of keeping human beings locked up from its very beginning to the mid 50s I think before it got shut down, to be rebuilt elsewhere in town. Gosh, those guys in the early days didn’t have it easy. Harsh conditions exist in Hokkaido already, but being in prison here on top of it seemed cruel. No wonder not many people fled. Life outside the prison was even harder with the natural surrounding providing very little sustainance and having to content with wild animals like bears and wolves. I complained about my deflated air mattress. Those guys sleeps on single layer straw and wooden benches with a block of wood for a pillow. 

I spent over an hour here and could have spent more time and read more things but time was running out. I had to still find a campsite (didn’t bother checking the day before). Luckily there was one just 2km away and right by a lake with good reviews. I went there put up my tent and asked another camper where the onsen is. He pointed south 1km but I needed to get dinner and stuff for breakfast, all the way north in Abashiri. Ok, no problem. On my bike I went. It was some 5 into town where I found a great Japanese dinner place. I complained about one of the dishes being very (very) different from the menu picture and they actually topped it up with another salmon piece. I mean this doesn’t cost them anything and they and I was hungry. After dinner I went to the local konbini for soy milk for breakfast and some snacks. 

I then had to cycle all the way back to the campsite and past it to the onsen. I was already packed with towel, shampoo and wash cloth (needed for the onsen). It was in a good hotel and I happily paid ¥500 for this great onsen (7/10), with 3 both baths, a cold bath and a hot bath outside. All nicely done. I stayed there for a good hour, but sadly forgot my shampoo there, just realising. Oh well, c’est la vie. 

Last activity of the day was to plan my road tomorrow, which is actually already the way back. I will go pay huge vulcanic lakes with hot springs on a relatively short 65km journey. This is the way back. My plan is for another 440km before getting back to Sapporo, from where I’ll take the local train to get me to Hakodate (and to the Shinkansen, the high speed train back to Tokyo). This means I will completely avoid the south coast and also the earthquake area. Maybe that’s a good thing. I feel I’ll definitely wasn’t to come back to Hokkaido, maybe in a camper van or on a motorbike to do more hiking, no cycling.