Day 6: Assuba to Hakodate

October 1, 2024

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This forest campground was noisy in a good way. Deer bugling in the distance, frogs joining in chorus at random times, birds of many kinds just doing their thing. It didn't disturb our sleep one bit.

The air felt clammy but our tent and footprint both remained dry. That's great news, considering we won't camp again for at least a couple more days. We're tired of camping. At the same time, we know we're going to miss many aspects of it, especially when conditions have been so good lately.

Motorcycle guy and nifty star-shaped dishwashing station in the background

We packed efficiently, then said goodbye to Assuba and all the good vibes associated with the place. It really is a lovely little town.

One thing I haven't mentioned yet is that there are loudspeakers in every town that play a little tune at certain times of day. Assuba's are at exactly 7am and 6pm. Apparently it has its roots in a desire to test the true reason for the loudspeakers' existence, which is to warn people of disasters like tsunami. Assuba's tune is played on organ. It's quite dissonant until it finally resolves at the end. Unlike some other town ditties, I don't think I would ever grow tired of hearing this one.

The ride to Hakodate was quite boring compared to the rest of the tour so far. I can see why it's not a preferred cycle touring route, but it's perfectly rideable. The most memorable part of the day was a construction zone where we waited at least 5 minutes for the light to change from red to green. Cars would pass the other direction in clusters, so after each group, we'd tell each other "This is it! Get ready!" We even motioned to the truck behind us to pull up closer, hoping that a sensor somewhere would pick up on the fact that there was a queue in this direction. The light finally changed, and we struggled uphill for about 400 metres under the pressure of drivers waiting patiently behind us.

Here are some typical road scenes to give you a taste of just how mundane the ride was. We did get a good workout climbing the hill, and we also enjoyed a carefree (but not car-free) descent.

As an experiment, we tried to ride the very narrow sidewalk in this tunnel. We didn't make it far before abandoning it for the tarmac.

Is there a set of official bike routes we're unaware of? Apparently so! https://cycle-hokkaido.jp/routelist

As I mentioned yesterday, there were only two vital tasks to complete today in Hakodate: purchase ferry tickets for tomorrow, and get checked in to our hotel. We accomplished both without a hitch!

Lunch next to the ferry we're taking tomorrow

After we cleaned up and changed into street clothes, we decided to walk to the Sports Depo, which is roughly equivalent to Decathlon in Europe in that it carries some specialty items, but mostly consists of generic outdoor gear. We picked up some sandals and more gas for the stove. Then it was over to Daiso yet again, to buy more of the stuff we hesitated over last visit. We replaced our cutlery with folding versions, so that it would all fit in the mess kit. A necessary luxury. Ha!

Here are a couple things that caught our eye along the way.

It looks like taking photos of manhole covers is going to be a theme for this tour

We took the streetcar back near our hotel, checked out the nightlife a little bit, slurped down some restaurant ramen, and retreated to our cozy room.

Tomorrow will involve very little cycling, and a fair bit of ferrying, so while not technically a "zero day," it's not going to be a touring day either. We need to rest up for Thursday, which will be our biggest day of climbing yet. Looking forward to it?

Today's ride: 58 km (36 miles)
Total: 445 km (276 miles)

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