The following entry is from my paper diary, hence the quotation marks. Comments may follow at the end. These are written after the completion of the trip.)
Day 1. Friday, July 16, 2010. Wakkanai to Otoshibe. Distance: 166 km
"Had the hotel buffet then set out at 5:30 or so for Cape Soya. Passed a round board that gave the current temperature and wind speed: 18c and 2 m/s. The temperature stayed around 20c all day. Quite nice bicycling weather. Asked an older couple to take my picture with the cell phone (iphone!) and digital Canon.
Set out on Rte. 238 for Otoshibe. The first up grade was about 6% and just a few kilometers from Soya. Surprisingly, there weren't many more the rest of the day. Was passed by a number of cyclists riding in pairs or threes, but also saw 2-3 singles. Kept running into them through the day. Passed one "kid" whose bags were also Ortlieb. Just as loaded as I was.
In Hamatonbetsu, as I was eating in front of a Seicomart convenience store, a blond foreigner came up to me speaking Japanese. I responded in Japanese. We asked and answered the typical questions. Then, as he may have exhausted his store of Japanese, he switched to English. He said that he taught English in Hamatonbetsu and was from Alaska - no name given. Said he was taking a short holiday and would camp at Okoppe (which turned out to be about 40 km. south of Otoshibe). Said he would hang out the window of the car and shout encouragement to me when they passed (He did!).
Finally made it to Otoshibe at about 5:15 with 160+ kms down from Wakkanai. Spotted a ramen place across from the bus shelter which I originally staked out for the night as I was pretty sure Otoshibe couldn't support any hotels. I entered the ramen place and ordered miso ramen and a glass (mug) of Sapporo beer - tasted great after the long ride. Minutes later, one of the single cyclists I had been shadowing came in and ate. I talked for a few minutes but could only figure out that he was two days from Sapporo. Traveling very light!
I called Akemi after dinner from the bus shelter I settled on a kilometer or 2 out of town. Omu, which might have a hotel, was supposed to be at least 20 km. away making an arrival before darkness iffy. So, I settled on the shelter, preparing for the pitch black I was expecting. It turned out that there was a highway light marking the intersection. To top that, one bus arrived, dropped off a passenger and turned around near 8 o'clock.
Quite uncomfortable night on the wooden bench. Lit a mosquito coil and opened a window a bit, but the air wasn't that good. Woke up once at 1:45. Wasn't really sure I had even slept.
Before dark I ate the yoghurt I had bought an hour before in a Seicomart north of Otoshibe. Added the cereal I had brought along - same combination as I eat at Berlitz!"
(Before leaving Tokyo I had read and heard about "accommodations" I might try other than hotels and youth hostels. Among them were camping in public parks and overnights in Internet cafes. It was only after I arrived in Hokkaido that I noticed the bus shelters. Those in towns were kept up nicely with swept and polished wooden floors and no spider webs. Such was the one I spotted in Otoshibe, but decided not to use it as I wasn't sure what the reaction of the townsfolk might be if I were seen to bed down. For that reason I cycled a bit further out of town until I came to the next one which was rather dirty and was home to a variety of spiders. I only later realized that no one would have bothered me in town.)
A more detailed time line:
5:30 am, left hotel in Wakkanai
6:40, photos of wind-powered turbines near Tomiiso Port
7:30, photo at Cape Soya monument
9:30, in Sarufutsu
11:50, in Hamatonbetsu
1:00 pm, photo of Cape Kamui (looking south)
1:45, photo of Cape Kamui (looking north)
2:50, in Esashi
4:30, in Otchube
5:15, arrived Otoshibe
6:25, left Otoshibe
6:30, arrived at bus shelter
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