Read Part 1 here beforehand, if you like.
The next morning we woke up early as we booked a drift ice walk at 0630am. Fortunately, the weather was way better than the expected rain..
After changing into the provided dry suits we jumped right in!
Afterwards we still had some time to kill until our bus departed at 0940. We decided to take a walk around Utoro – this time in daylight!
We an amazingly high temperature of 9.9degrees that morning..
But the wind was quite strong, making for some nice cloud formations..
We then hopped onto the bus taking us back to Shiretoko-shari and took the train to Kawayu Onsen. The trains in remote areas are usually one-wagon trains, but this train featured something new (or old?):
At Kawayu Onsen we got onto another bus taking us around the Lake Akan National Park. The bus is actually pretty cheap with a 2 day pass only costing 1500jpy!
The first stop was going to be Mt Iou. The sulphur smell gave away what we were going to see before we arrived at the mountain..
The bus stopped for about 15min to allow for enough time for everyone to walk up to the mountain!
Of course there was also a small shop nearby selling Onsen boiled eggs.
Our next stop was Lake Kussharo, not far from Mt Iou. Most of the lake is covered in ice, but as there are hot springs nearby some hot water flows into the lake. Much to the delight of the swans..
Apparently the swans come all the way from Russia to enjoy the Onsen during the winter!
Even though we only had about 30mins at Lake Kussharo (definitely take the car next time!), we did make it into the Onsen as well for a short time :)!
Our next stop was Lake Mashu which was a fair bit away, but offered a very rewarding view. We were kind of lucky as the Lake is often covered by thick fog..
And after a long day, we arrived at our Hotel in the very typical, deserted Japanese Onsen city.. I am going to post some pictures of that another time :)
View from the window in the direction of Lake Kussharo..
Thanks for stopping by!
Read Part 1 here and follow up with Part 3 here
Burcu Basar says:
Dear Nimar – you have an amazing blog which helps me a lot during my planing process for my upcoming trip to Hokkaido in January 2016. I have been there once before and fell in love with the place so this time I am going for a longer trip. You have done a great job here with amazingly put descriptions. Best – Burcu
December 29, 2015 — 15:27
nb says:
Thanks Burcu :) Hope you have a great time in Hokkaido and the weather treats you well!
January 8, 2016 — 21:57
Flo says:
Hi Nimar, thanks for the information from your blog. it helps me to plan my next trip to Hokkaido in Februari 2017.
Can you tell me how to booked drift ice walk in utoro?
May 20, 2016 — 14:31
nb says:
Hey Flo, sorry for the late reply! First, you should be golden in Feburary, as there usually is always drift ice to walk on :).
There are a few places which offer the drift ice walk (Ryuhyo Walk in Japanese) and we called up one of them to book two places. I think it was: http://www.shinra.or.jp/ryuhyo_walk.html
You don’t need to speak Japanese to participate but booking is a lot easier if you can speak Japanese / ask a Japanese speaking person to book for you.
Albeit short, the drift ice walk is amazing and makes you get up early, have fun :)
June 16, 2016 — 00:03
Wilson says:
Hi NB,
May i know where were you staying at Kawayu Onsen area? Thank you.
July 11, 2016 — 21:41
nb says:
Hi Wilson,
we stayed at KKR Kawayu Onsen (http://www.kkr.or.jp/hotel/kawayu/) but we booked it through a third party website (I think jalan.net) because they offered a special deal which was incredibly cheap. The hotel was nice and clean but not special and we did not eat there so I can’t comment on the food. Let me know if you want to know more details :)
July 12, 2016 — 01:58
Christine says:
Hello Nimar,
May I ask you about the bus that took you to the Mt. Iou, Lake Kussharu, Lake Mashu , etc. It will stop for a certain period of time and continue to the next stop. Question is, what will happen if we miss it? Are there other busses that will come on that day? If yes, do you know how to get the bus schedule?
Another question about accomodation. If I would go for your itenerary (drift ice walk and visit the lakes), where should i stay? Thank you very much
August 12, 2016 — 03:02
nb says:
Hi Christine!
Concerning your last question, we stayed in Utoro at ボンズホーム (Bon’s Home, website: http://www.bonshome.com) which was a little pricey if I recall correctly (about 5000jpy/person/night inkl food) but the food was amazing.
The host was also friendly and drove us to a nearby Onsen in the evening, though we might have just been lucky :p. As the drift ice walks are usually only conducted very early in the morning, you would have to stay close to/in Utoro to be able to join a walk.
The bus scheduele depends on the season, there are ususally more busses during summer than winter. Wehn do you plan to go? Generally, the driver will tell you at what time the bus leaves when you get off the bus so just be careful to head back 1-2min before that time and you should be good :) Most of the time the bus will be within sight as well, so don’t worry too much about that. Taking a taxi there would be very expensive I think :p
If you have further questions just let me know :)
Nimar
August 12, 2016 — 23:37
Christine says:
Thank you so much for the reply Nimar! I´ll be visiting Hokkaido on 17-25 February 2017. I eventually choose to stay at Abashiri to take the drift ice cruise and head to Kawayu Onsen on the next day. Hopefully there will be enough drift ice at that time (I read that the cruise often get cancelled). Fingers crossed! =)
September 24, 2016 — 18:51
nb says:
Sounds like a great plan and a fun trip! Yeah, the drift ice walks are very weather dependant but I think in February drift ice cruises should still rather be the norm than an exception.
Have fun in Hokkaido, it’s a magnificent place :)
October 3, 2016 — 22:46