September 16, 2025
Day 14 — Sapporo day off
After 9 straight days riding and 9 straight nights camping, we were absolutely ready for a day off.
First order of business was the breakfast buffet, where we did our best to maximize our calorie and protein intake. Plus a substantial number of coffees.
After sorting out the last of our laundry it was time to be tourists. Our hotel was at the north end of Nakajima park, and we spent a little while strolling in the sun, checking out the little lake where I promised to rent a rowboat and row Marilee around (a lie), a beautiful Japanese garden, and statues of men we couldn’t identify.
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Our plan was then to take the train to Otaru, an hour west of Sapporo, which was an old port town that still had some historical ambiance. So it was off to the train station again. We had no bikes and carefully checked the platform the train was departing from, so things went much more smoothly this time.
Once in Otaru we stumbled into the fish market, which was filled with sightseers like ourselves. The highlight was definitely tub after tub of these enormous King Crabs. They were huge! Not quite the size of Alaska Kings, but very very large. We paused at one stand, where a family was negotiating the purchase of one of these behemoths. From what we could spy, the crab was 5.7 kilos, and we think, though it seems nuts, cost ¥83,500. Which is nearly $800 Canadian. Cantaloupe were going for nearly twenty bucks, so it seems plausible.
We spent the next few hours wandering through the historical bits of Otaru. First was the old canal, very picturesque, and another boat ride I reneged on. From there we wandered down the historical street, reading plaques in front of old buildings which were mostly about them burning down in the great fire of 1909, and being rebuilt with better fireproofing. The area was now a tourist mecca, with shops selling glassware and crafts, a local artistic specialty. This wouldn’t be the biggest draw for us shopping-wise at the best of times, let alone now that we’d have to pack the precious baubles into bike bags, but it was interesting for an hour’s wander. It was absolutely thronging with tourists — going to the Snoopy store, getting chilled cucumber on a stick, buying pricy sake.
We returned to Sapporo mid afternoon, after a snoozy train ride back from Otaru. Wandering back to the hotel, we discovered there was a big autumn festival going on that evening, with many, many, many food stalls being set up. Dinner plans were sorted.
When we returned in the evening, the festival was in full swing. Block after block of food stalls, and absolutely jammed with people. Many of the stalls seemed to be themed in terms of regional or local specialities — kind of a farm / sea to table thing going on. We treated ourselves to a glass of one of Hokkaido’s cheapest wines, then provisioned dumplings, grilled beef and pizza in a cone.
We lasted until nearly 8:00, then it was back to the fearful mess of our hotel room to start packing up.
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