The White Getaway Part 2:

Lake Akan

Guessed we had the best sleep among all the nights in Hokkaido..
Concussed from the deficiency on the plane..

Feeling really refreshed..



We forgot to bring the bottle of water to the hotel room in our hurry the previous night..
This was what we found early morning.
Below freezing point.




As we drove off towards Lake Akan..
We tried to find the shoe plaza we came across the previous night but without avail..
Someone's shoes were disintegrating and held only by Japanese superglue hurhurhur..
Moral of the story..
"Do not wear boots that you have not worn for three years back to the same freezing country" :P

There were a lot of traffic junctions at Obihiro.
Cos of the snow,
We kept beating the red lights
And we kept stopping at the green lights..
We could not see the traffic junction line at all.


The same driving experience, the same toll gates..



Along the expressway..
We saw a lot of cars going into the P lane..
Curious, we followed suit.



The line of colorful vending machines awaited us..
Together with an extremely clean male and female toilets..
As we came out of the toilets
We saw the cleaning lady walking towards her mini van and off she drove.
They actually have toilet staff moving around maintaining the toilets along the expressway o.0

We got into a crappy good mood..



After driving for another half an hour or so..
We passed many closed farms..
Those big fields were filled with untouched snow..
So mesmerizing..
Till...



The glare was glistening across those fields and fields of snow..




The majestic Mount Meakan and Akan Fuji in the distance :)



The first time I saw deers..
Not skinny ones in the zoo.
But chubby deers which roam around freely in the woods..

Those deer crossing signs by the roads,
Became a real necessity..

Ezo Deers :)





It did not snow that day.
The sun was high up making its presence well known among the sparsely scattered clouds..




Tom Cruise wannabe :P




As we drove into towards the Kushiro City into the woods..
We suddenly felt the Xmas ambience..



-The lignosa of a red Ezo spruce to the front of Mt. Meakan-

The alley of real Xmas trees :)

We were looking for the Crane Reserve but to no avail.
They had a few reserves for the cranes but we kept getting dead ends.
Either they were closed or the GPS announced a location in the middle of the woods.

Then we saw another P.
Turned in to take a break from driving..

This stop had a decent looking souvenir and snacks shop.
So we thought we could stop to have some snacks as lunch.
Little did we know that we were actually at the entrance of the Akan International Crane Centre!



The Red-crowned Crane is one of the biggest birds in Japan at 140-150cm and with wingspan of 220-240 cm.
The entire body is white, while from bill to neck and a part of wings are black, and the top of the head is red.
From its characteristic head color originates the Japanese name of "Tancho"('tan'= red, 'cho'=top).
It is a resident species in Japan and Kushiro Shitsugen is their largest habitat.

Landscape shot :)



In that unbearable cold..
Camera men lined the viewing bay with their huge ass DSLR with their equally or even bigger lens..
Just to take beautiful pictures of the cranes in action..
Especially feeding time at 1pm and 4pm respectively :)

We then chose another quiet spot..
Took out our convenient tripod..
And started goofing around..





The cranes chose to remain oblivious to the attention they are given..
And continued to laze around..
Perfect for a sunny Sunday weather.



Hoping to capture them spread their wings as they fly from one sanctuary to another..
I whipped out my camera in the fastest possible way and got this shot :)
They are really huge..



Took a little break back indoors..
Sipped some warm water from the thermal flasks..
And off we go again..





*****

The trees looked differently at different zones..
We had seen so many different trees in just a simple day of self drive..



We finally reached our second hotel destination at 4:30 pm.


Hotel Akankoso

A pleasant welcome dessert :)
-Milk pudding with heart shaped strawberry jam-



In the room,
Hot water awaits us..
Even though we were half an hour later than the time we said we would arrive.
That was how good the service is.

Hotel Akankoso is one of the many hotels that lined Lake Akan..
In winter,
The lake completely freezes over during the winter..
Snow enthusiasts will pitch tents on the lake
And there will be winter sports such as smelt ice fishing, skating and snowmobiling..

The view from the hotel room.

Beautiful sunset :)





More welcome snacks in the room..




Took a little rest with the snacks and warm green tea..
Then we piled on layers and took another walk to the Aiun Kotan Village before our dinner..






Ainu Kotan Village



The shops had similar souvenirs.
Perhaps it was a popular tourist spot
The things were not cheap.



At -15 degrees,
Our gloves could not do much for our poor fingers..
With freezing knees and toes..
We kept running into the shops to keep warm.
The roads were icy and we slipped many times.



Back at the hotel

Red faces with tearing eyes and running nose..



And crapping around again..
I was in total black three years ago..
Hurhurhur..




Dinner by Hotel Akankoso

Different chefs will be in charge of different menus..
So our dinner will be pre-selected for us depending which chef is on shift.



We got a pleasant surprise when we arrived at the dining hall..
How to finish all..??!



14 courses i think..
Our sides were bursting.







Took a break after dinner..
These were the prettiest yukatas I've ever seen..



Outdoor hot spring to end the night :)



*****