Hours walked: 10:30-6:00
Distance walked: 29 km
Today (17 June) was the first day of our southbound hike in (or maybe even of) Japan. We started at Cape Soya, the northernmost point of the country, the closest we’ve ever been to Russia. Getting here involved planes, trains and buses; we spent a few days in Sapporo preparing and one evening in Wakkanai. This town of 30,000 had a mall like a spaceport - but with few stores - and a fantastic swimming pool where the girls had a blast in the lazy river, giant water slide and waterfall.
Our starting point had a giant pyramid marking the northern point, plus other memorials to a nearby plane crash, an unusually bountiful harvest year, and a hit song from the 70’s that is still being played on eternal repeat. We took a photo, slapped up a decal, and set off!
Remarkably, there was a sidewalk for the whole 29-km walk. We hugged the coast, with the Sea of Japan on our right. It was very windy, but fairly clear skies and easy walking. We had onigiri for lunch by a small harbour, and made it back to Wakkanai by dinner.
We decided to stop in at a supermarket instead of eating out (few veggie choices in south Wakkanai), and had sushi and instant tomato soup for dinner. Then it was straight to bed and the end of a good first day.
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| The beginning! |
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| Lunch by the water |
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| Sapporo historical town (pre-hike) |
This is great! Truely remarkable. I'm excited to read along and wish we were there too
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