Beautiful lakes in Hokkaido

The next stop on our Odyssey was Lake Akan. Not only is Lake Akan one of the most famous scenic spots in Hokkaido, it's also one of the main places one can still find traces of the Ainu culture. So I was rather looking forward to visit the renowned lake.

Unfortunately, the weather continued to be rather depressing, so we didn't get up to much on the first evening. We did head out to check out some of the handicraft shops that litter the main road (yes, Lake Akan is rather touristy, so if you go one day, don't expect an authentic, desolate, traditional Ainu village or anything like that...). We had a very simple, but tasty dinner at one of the Ainu restaurants in town.

The next day, we got up early, eager to explore the lake. Unfortunately, though, our bad luck with the weather continued, as the sun refused to make an appearance. Undeterred, we walked along a footpath that follows the lakeside. Quite a nice hike, with some nice views across the lake towards the islands. And actually, the misty/cloudy weather added a kind of sense of mystery to the place.

Now, the one thing to do on Lake Akan is take a boat cruise. It takes you across the lake to one of Churui island. The boat  ride is very nice, following the lakeshore, going down some pretty narrow passages between islands. Again, the misty/cloudy weather all added a bit of an extra touch of atmosphere to this legendary place. We were even treated to the beautiful sight of 2 Deers on one of the islands we passed.

We eventually arrived at Churui island. The island itself is nothing special, but it does have a small visitor centre that tells the story of the mysterious Marimo. This mysterious green algae ball, which plays a very important part in Ainu culture (there is a 3 day festival each year dedicated to the Marimo), has been designated a national treasure in Japan, no less. We also learnt that most of the Marimos they sell on the mainland (unsurprisingly, they sell them in pretty much every shop in town) are not, in fact, real Marimos.

So, all in all, quite an interesting boat trip then, and a great introduction to the area. We spent the rest of the day exploring the Ainu village. It's clearly also a very touristy place, but since the main trade is traditional handicraft, it's a very positive kind of tourism. And there were some truly beautiful items on sale - normally we are not that enthusiastic about buying local handicraft but this time we made an exception.

We decided to go for a short walk before dinner, so drove up just past lake Akan to start the hike towards nearby Mr. Otakan. The plan wasn't to make it all the way up to the mountain (it's a good 6 hours hike - and the mountaintop was covered in clouds anyway) - but apparently there are two nice lakes on quite close to the start of the trek, which we were keen to check out.

Excellent idea - the hike was a very pleasant one, we were greeted with some very nice forest scenery, and both of the small lakes (Lake Taro and Lake Jiro) were both very nice indeed. Again, the cloudy weather added to the atmosphere of our little expedition (one could almost imagine bears, that the signposts leading onto the trek warned about, shuffling behind the mist-covered tress). Joking apart, it was a really nice little walk, a nice way to finish off a rather busy day.

After our little hike, and dinner at another Ainu restaurant (where I had the Genghis Khan barbeque  - how could I possibly NOT order a dish called that, eh?) we headed off to check out some Ainu dancing at the Ainu theatre, in the village. Quite interesting and informative little display, there was a nice explanation about each dance/music number in English, which gave some nice context to the dances. Pretty national dresses they had, too!

The next morning, it was time to leave Lake Akan behind and head off to another lake, Lake Shikotsu, located on the Western side of Hokkaido, near Sapporo.  But before that, we decided to do a morning hike, especially since the weather looked a bit less miserable than the day before ;-). We decided on an easy-seeming hike which started from a nearby ski resort, Kokusestu.

The hike started with us hiking up one of the ski sloped, but quite soon (thankfully, as walking up a ski slope is actually quite hard going!) the path veered off into the forest, from where the footpath gently climbed up through some very nice forest scenery (again, signs warning about bears kept us on our toes!). We walked past a couple of hot springs (with very graphical signposts warning us about the dangers of stepping into one!). I also nearly stepped on a snake during our tiresome ascent (apparently my reaction to the wildlife encounter was a somewhat none-masculine, scream-like sound??).

Our hard work was awarded as we arrived at a nice little wooden viewing platform (Mount Hakuto-San observatory), from where we were greeted to some absolutely stunning views over Lake Akan, and the nearby mountains. Thankfully, the persistent clouds were less sparse than on previous days, so we could actually enjoy the view - the sun still stubbornly stayed out of view, though. Anyway, fantastic little finale to our short stay at Lake Akan.

And then, time to jump into our car and head to our next destination, sadly our last one in Hokkaido for this visit, Lake Skihotsu. It was quite a long drive to get there, but we arrived early afternoon, which still allowed us time to check into our hotel and explore the lake for a bit. Our hotel, a rather classy Onsen hotel was rather nicely located on a cliff overlooking the lake (no direct views over the lake though, due to rather abundant tree growth).

After checking out the nice hotel garden, we made our way along a nature path, which was supposed to take us a bit along the lake side, to a sort of scenic spot. Unfortunately, we realized the footpath was closed after a while, so we had to do a U-turn. Again, the trees growing by the train only allowed us tantalizing glimpses over the lake.

Undeterred, and determined to see the damn lake, we walked down the Onsen town down at the bottom of the hill, and yes, we finally got to see the lake! Shikotsu is a caldera lake (so basically a dormant volcano that exploded), and a very deep one at that (363 meters at its deepest, which makes it the 2nd deepest lake in Japan). It's a real stunner, too. Especially, since, yes, believe it or not, the sun finally made an appearance! So we spent quite some time just relaxing by a secluded beach, enjoying the view. With me naturally taking "a few" piccies.

We walked around the town for a bit, more a collection of hotels and shops actually. There was a nice and informative visitor centre which gave plenty of information about the lake, which was pretty cool. But mostly we just enjoyed the sun and the great views.

As the sun started to set, we made our way back up to the hotel, and prepared for dinner (with me enjoying the Onsen, naturally).  The dinner was a pretty good buffet meal. So all in all, a great finale for our trip to Hokkaido.

So yes, this did signal the end of our trip to Hokkaido. We were a bit sad to leave Hokkaido, as it seemed that the weather was just getting good as we were leaving. Oh well, I suppose we have to come back another time. At least we still had a few days in Tokyo to look forward to!