25 August 2023
After staying 2 nights in Asahikawa, our road trip continued with a long drive on this day from Asahikawa to Utoro via Abashiri.
Utoro is a small working fishing port located along the western coast of the Shiretoko Peninsula. It also serves as a principal access point for the beautiful Shiretoko National Park. Hence it is a good place to stay when exploring the national park. Utoro is also blessed with natural hot spring water and there are a couple of fancy onsen hotels located in this town.
The total distance for the day’s road trip was almost 300 km. To make the drive more interesting, my itinerary included sightseeing stops that required minor detours.
The planned stops were:
- Ginga and Ryusei Falls and Obako
- Ozoracho Himawari sunflower field next to Memanbetsu Airport
- Brief stop at Meruhen no Oka viewpoint for photos.
- Lunch at Abashiri town.
- Driving down the “Road to the Sky” with a brief stop at the "Road to the Sky" viewpoint.
- Onnebetsu Bridge to see salmon swimming up river and fisherman catching salmon.
- Oshinkoshin Falls.
As it would a long drive, we started early at 8.15 AM after a good Japanese breakfast in Mimatsuso Ryokan.
Ginga and Ryusei Falls
After about an hour of driving, we arrived at the Ginga and Ryusei Falls, one of the scenic spots located in the Sounkyo Gorge within the northern part of Daisetsuzan National Park.
Ginga Falls falling down like delicate silver threads.
The Ginga Falls could be easily viewed from the car park. There is a shaded walking path next to the swift flowing Ishikari River.
Long exposure picture of the Ishikari River.
We could not see the Ryusei Falls clearly from the river as it was blocked by dense trees.
To get a view of both waterfalls at the same time, my son and I hiked up the mountain to an observation deck called Soubaku Dai. The trail starts behind the gift shop that sells souvenirs, local food and drinks.
Start of the trail to Soubaku Dai. These wooden stairs led us to a pair of viewing decks, where the first viewing deck was about 200m from the start of the trail.
Signs warning of brown bears were posted but I felt safe since there were many people around. Wild animals typically avoid humans, the most vicious and dangerous creature on earth.
This forest is the habitat of the Hokkaido brown bears.
We were soon provided with a view of both waterfalls above the tree line.
The Ginga Waterfall (left) and the Ryusei Waterfall (right) flowing down columnar rock face.
We could have stopped here but instead continued to the second deck which was even higher. However, the view was not significantly better than the first.
At the top observation deck.
View of the twin waterfalls at the top observation deck.
We took about 25 minutes to complete the return trip to the Soubaku Dai. A good workout for us in the morning.
Obako
Our next stop in the Sounkyo Gorge is only a few minutes away from the Ginga and Ryusei Falls by car. The entrance to Obako is on the left of the highway, and is right after the exit from a tunnel.
The car park next to the river is large and has few cars in it. There is a viewing platform along the river, just a short walk from the car park.
This place is very scenic and definitely worth a brief stop on our road trip.
We could see a combination of the Ishikari River and sheer rock cliffs.
De-commissioned bridge leading out of a tunnel in the mountain.
A sign next to a de-commissioned bridge states that the beautiful columnar jointing on the rock faces was created by an explosive eruption of Ohachidaira around 30,000 years ago. These columnar rocks are hexagonal in shape if viewed from above (very similar to the rocks we saw in my recent trip to Jeju).
The Ishikari River has eroded the rocks over a long period of time to form a box-shaped canyon.
Ozora-cho Himawari Batake
Our next stop after Obako is the Ozora-cho Himawari Batake, a sunflower field next to Memanbetsu Airport.
Sunflower is a symbol for summer in Japan and there are a number of “sunflower farms” in Hokkaido. Hence visiting Hokkaido in August provided us with an opportunity to see amazing sights of blooming golden field of sunflowers.
I was happy to see that Memanbetsu Airport is on the route from Asahikawa to Abashiri and it would not need a big detour to check out the sunflower fields. Ozora-cho Himawari Batake provides an additional opportunity to snap photos of airplanes landing and taking off amidst sunflowers.
Sunflowers begin blooming in mid-July in the southern and central parts of Hokkaido, and with luck and favourable weather, we may be able to see them at their best.
After a 2 hour drive, we arrived at the spot next to the Memanbetsu Airport.
Luck and the weather was not on our side. Sunflowers have a very short flowering span. The summer this year had been extra hot and we were a few weeks too late. All the sunflower had been harvested.
Location on google map: Ozora-cho Himawari Batake
Meruhen no Oka
Our disappointment was short lived as our next stop at the Meruhen no Oka lived up to my expectations.
Meruhen no Oka or the Hill of Fairies is roadside viewpoint located along Highway 39, about 5 km north-northeast of Memanbetsu Airport.
From the viewpoint, we could see a gently‐sloping hill with beautiful scenery. There are fields that had bee recently ploughed and several larch trees standing in a line on the horizon. This place is a landscape photographer’s dream.
Location on google map: Meruhen no Oka
Lunch at White House Restaurant in Abashiri
It was almost 1 PM by the time we finished snapping photos at Meruhen no Oka. Most restaurants in Hokkaido close at or before 2 PM so I was in a hurry to get to Abashiri.
We parked our car at a car park near where the eateries are located. A sign on the unmanned booth stated that the charges is 100 yen per half hour and there is a coin box below. This kind of honesty system would only work in Japan. In other countries, no one would pay and the coin box may even be looted.
As Abashiri is a coastal town, my original plan was to have a seafood (e.g. sushi) lunch. We found that Abashiri, like most rural Japanese towns, is quiet and deserted in the middle of the day. Most shops were shut and I was slightly concerned that we may not be able to find a decent restaurant for lunch.
We ended up in the White House Restaurant, a restaurant I had pre-marked on Google map.
The lunch menu was limited compared to what was displayed outside. The elderly lady who served cannot speak English and there was no English menu. Thankfully, the one page menu had pictures of the food and Japanese text that we translated using GoogleTranslate.
These were the mains we ordered.
Ebi (prawns) and steak combo.
A plate of steamed white rice is included with each of the above mains. So, it was a quite a filling lunch.
We returned to the car park after lunch and the booth was now manned. I paid the man 200 yen which he gladly accepted.
Coffee at Uminoba
We were craving some coffee after our late lunch. I had earmarked a cafe called Uminoba located by the coastal highway 391, just a 10-minute drive from Abashiri's city center.
Although this is a nice cafe serving delicious coffee, we were the only customers at this time of day. A cafe like this would be crowded in places like Jeju or Singapore.
Nice interior in Uminoba. The cafe also has a shop offering hand-made souvenirs, sweets and snacks.
Like most Japanese eateries and cafes, the exterior of Uminoba is not very flashy.
We sat outside and had a slow post lunch coffee break with views of the Sea of Okhotsk.
Watching the cars and world goes by in Abashiri.
Road to the Sky
Our next destination was another popular photo spot in Hokkaido with a simple but mystic view. The Ten ni Tsuzuku Michi, or “Road to the Sky,” is a straight 28 km road located near the town of Shari is between Abashiri and Utoro (Gateway to Shiretoko National Park).
“Road to the Sky or Heaven” as seen from the “start” point.
As could be seen from the above photo, the long straight road provides an illusion of a road that leads to the sky in the horizon.
Driving down the Road to the Sky from the “end point” to the “start point”.
It is worthwhile to do a slight detour and drive down this road while on the way to Shiretoko or Utoro. The “end” point is near to Uminoba. Hence it was actually the start of our drive. It took about 30 minutes to cover the distance of 28 Km which is almost half the length of Singapore, my home country.
There is a small car park with a purposed built observation deck at the end of our journey. This is the popular photo spot.
Unfortunately, it was drizzling slightly so the visibility and illusion of the road leading to the sky in the far horizon was not at its best.
Location on Google Map:
End of the Road leading to the Sky
Start of the Road leading to the Sky with carpark and observation platform
From the car park of the observation point, we headed northwards towards the coastal road again. We chanced upon a field filled with blooming sunflowers on the left side. It started raining so we did not get nice photos of the sunflowers. We will be back!
Onnebetsu Bridge
Continuing along the coastal road towards Utoro, we made a stop at a car park next to Onnebetsu Bridge. There is a salmon and trout hatching facility nearby.
During the salmon season, it is common to see fisherman fishing along the seashore next to the mouth of the Onnebetsu river (fishing for salmon along the river is illegal in Hokkaido). We were hoping to see the fisherman in action and also spot salmon doing their run upstream.
When we arrived, here was no one fishing on the beach, indicating that the salmon run was possibly over or not started. Indeed, we could not see salmon leaping or swimming upstream.
We took some time to explore the river and the beach. We managed to see some salmon resting in the shallow pools by the river mouth.
I guess they are waiting for an opportune time to start their next run upriver. Salmon is one of the few fish that can live in both fresh and sea water. They could also be conditioning their bodies in the shallows of the estuary before embarking on their journey up the fresh water river.
Oshinkoshin Falls (Oshinkoshin-no-taki)
A little disappointed that we missed the salmon run, we continued our scenic drive towards Utoro.
Just before reaching Utoro, we made a stop at the Oshinkoshin Falls. This is a spectacular waterfall just next to the coastal main road with free car parks and toilets. This is one of the popular scenic spots in Shiretoko and the largest waterfall in Shiretoko.
A short flight of steps leads to a viewing platform about halfway to the top of the waterfall, from where we could get real close to the falls. The falls is 30 meters wide and 80 meters high, with water cascading down in multiple streams.
It was really nice to feel the cool spray from the falls on our faces.
This was the last sightseeing stop before we arrived at Utoro.
Iruka Hotel in Utoro
We would be staying in a 2-bedroom apartment at the Iruka Hotel in Utoro for two nights. Just before arriving at the hotel, we saw a turtle shaped rock nicknamed the Gamera Rock from the coastal highway. Gamera is a turtle monster or Kaiju (similar to the more famous Godzilla).
Gamera Rock on the left as we approached Utoro.
The hotel is actually 1.9 km away from Utoro centre and next to the sea. This hotel is probably not ideal for those who came to Utoro by public transport.
Iruka means Dolphin, hence the dolphin icon on the building.
Main building of Iruka Hotel.
The front desk is located on the second floor of the main building and most of the single and double rooms are on the 3rd floor. This is no lift or elevator. Thankfully, our apartment is standalone, and on the ground floor.
The 2 bedroom apartment with our car parked just outside.
We arrived at Iruka Hotel slightly past 5 PM. After settling down in our apartment, we took a short stroll by the “beach” to enjoy the evening views. The sky was cloudy in the west, so the sun set was not spectacular.
View of the Shiretoko mountains and Utoro harbour from our hotel.
A cubic shaped rock made an interesting photo.
Yuhidai observatory
We took a drive to the Yuhidai observatory (a place to watch the sunset). It is on the hill which overlooks the town of Utoro.
We parked near a camping ground that was quite busy. We took a short walk to the Yuhidai observational deck but the sun had already set. Nevertheless, we got a view of Utoro harbour in the blue light of dusk.
We could see the prominent Oronko Rock (another good place to watch the sunset at Utoro) and a rock that looks like Godzilla, nicknamed the Godzilla Rock.
Utoro as viewed from Yuhidai observatory. Can you spot Godzilla?
Dinner in Utoro at Enshi Suisan (圓子水産)
My original plan for dinner was to be at one of the restaurants near the Yuhidai. Unfortunately, the few restaurants in this area were fully booked.
We realised that there were not many eating options in Utoro. Most restaurants in Utoro catered to the day trippers and opened only during the day.
Google came to our rescue and we found a small restaurant in Utoro harbour called the Enshi Suisan (圓子水産). This restaurant is located just in front of the “Godzilla Rock”.
Godzilla Rock - an odd shaped rock in Utoro Harbor that has the shape of the famous kaiju.
Enshi Suisan is a simple eatery with locally sourced seafood.
View of the inside of this simple eatery.
A table laden with self-served cutlery, iced water and free arajiru is located right at the entrance. Arajiru is a miso soup made with fish head and bones. A sign stated that this restaurant uses a very rare Yumepirika rice from Hokkaido that is free of pesticides and fertilisers.
The restaurant was manned by a solo young man who takes order, grills the food and serves the customers. There were few customers in the evening, so service was attentive.
The eatery has English menu for both raw seafood and grilled seafood. We saw a few flies lurking on the tables so we avoided the raw seafood.
Grilled seafood menu in English.
We ordered 2 grilled atka mackerel, 1 grilled aramaki salmon, 3 grilled scallops, 3 bowls of the rare steamed rice and 2 draft beers. The atka mackerel is a local mackerel called the hokke and is plentiful in the Sea of Okhotsk.
The lone staff also served us a plastic cup filled with dry salmon sticks with our beers. We took a bite of the tough jerky-liked salmon sticks and that was it. Not the best appetiser and we abandoned the rest of the salmon sticks. It was only when we asked for the bill that we noticed that there was a charge of 500 yen for it. It was stated in fine print on the menu.
There is free self served arajiru soup with small meatballs and pieces of salmon. The soup has good flavour of a fish soup and quite tasty. I could just eat my steamed rice with it and nothing else. Unfortunately, it was lukewarm. The lone staff lit the fire to reheat the soup just when we finished our dinner. On hindsight, we could have request for him to reheat the soup earlier.
Juicy grilled scallops for 500 yen each.
The grilled atka mackerel is delicious. Being an oily fish, it tasted juicy even after grilling. The fish was served with bones on but they are easy to remove.
Grilled Aramaki (salt preserved) salmon. Well seasoned but a bit overcooked and dry compared to the atka mackeral.
Arajiru, a miso soup made with fish head and bones. This came with pieces of meatball and salmon.
In their raw seafood menu, this restaurant self proclaimed that it is the cheapest place to eat in Utoro. They were probably right. Our dinner for 3 persons costs 5500 yen, including 2 beers and the 500 yen appetiser!
We ended the day with some grocery shopping at the two convenience shops in Utoro (a Seicomart and a 7-eleven). We bought items for breakfast (cooked ham, fresh eggs, sliced bread and cheese. And not forgetting the cheap beer.
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