Read Part 1 here and Part 2 here
We started the day off at Kawayu Onsen – on the way to the bus stop we spotted a Rotenburo (open air bath), which was charmingly located next to the road!
We were heading for the train to go south in a comfy local train..
Our destination was Kushiro Shitsugen, a large National Park area next to the city of Kushiro, famous for its swamps! The light was not that good unfortunately.. Right next to the Kushiro Shitsugen Station is a little Inn which sells very good & reasonably priced pancakes (if I remember correctly just slightly above 200yen)!
As we had more time than we though at the Shitsugen but not enough to get around, we decided go back a little but therefore hop on one of the special trains of Hokkaido..
Like the Pack Ice Express we boarded on the first day, they had little ovens in all cars. We decided to try to toast some melon pan
It turns out that the fireplace was a little hotter than expected..
We got off at Kayanuma Station to see some Japanese Red-crowned Cranes and we were not disappointed!
There were some deers along and on the tracks as well.. apparently it’s not uncommon for them to be run over by trains..
Our next stop was Ikeda, famous all around Hokkaido for it’s wine and especially the Wine Castle! I was quite eager to see a Japanese Wine castle..
Upon leaving the station, we got the impression that we were already able to see the wine castle but we dismissed it as a misapprehension.
Upon following the guided path towards the Wine Castle however, it dawned upon us that what we previously saw could be the famous Wine Castle after all…
And it turned out to be correct.. I was rather expecting something along the lines of a European Wine Castle rather than an European bunker…. This seemed to be the modern interpretation of a (wine) castle
There were some grape-vines left next to the castle…
After a quick ~5min tour of the “castle”,
we got to try some wine for free, and the taste wasn’t bad after all
Most names of the Wines seemed to by inspired by German wine
Of course they had some sad background music playing as well, as typical for this kind of place in Japan..
After a quick peek from the rooftop terrace we headed back for our next train..
The last stop before Sapporo was going to be Obhihiro to eat Butadon and Sweets (Obihiro is famous for both!). The decoration around the station reminded of Christmas time..
We had pretty amazing Butadon at a shop called pancho, close to Obihiro Station! The amount of food was just right as well (for the large sized one)
Afterwards we stopped by the famous sweetsshop Rokkatei, which was definitely worth a visit!
Especially the cake is out of this world and reasonably sized while being cheap as well! (I recommend the chocolate one)
Thanks for stopping by!
Read Part 1 here and Part 2 here
Winnie says:
Hi, possible to share your itinerary with us?
November 12, 2016 — 15:43
nb says:
Hi Winie, the iternary is outlined in the post above – is there anything special you want to know/I should expand on? Let me know so I can help :)
November 12, 2016 — 20:20
Winnie says:
We are planning for a 15D hokkaido trip and we are rather confused on the transport portion as in how to get from one place to another. ur main mode of transport was train? Hv you tried taking any of the buses instead of trains?
November 14, 2016 — 09:44
nb says:
15days sounds plenty to get around :). Yes, my main mode of transport was train – I bought a 4 or 3 day Hokkaido train pass and therefore tried to use the train as much as possible. However, some parts, especially in the east of Hokkaido are only accessible by bus/car. For example Shiretoko or the lakes around Kawayu Onsen, so I went there by bus. Some parts can also easily be done by bus instead of train, like the connecting journeys to/from big cities. Sometimes taking the train is a special experience in itself however, as there are plenty of special trains going around in Hokkaido, if that’s your kind of thing :D
I think the most convenient way of travelling would be by rental car, especially if you are travelling together with more people. However, during winter the road conditions can be not ideal so a properly equipped car with studs ( I believe most rental cars come properly equipped in winter) and some experience would be benificial.
November 27, 2016 — 06:46